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Oxford families push for subpoenas 3 years after Ethan Crumbley killed 4 in school shooting

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Oxford families push for subpoenas 3 years after Ethan Crumbley killed 4 in school shooting

Although the gunman who killed their children and his parents who gave him the gun are behind bars, families of the Oxford High School shooting victims say their fight for justice is far from over. 

Victims’ parents gathered for the first time without their attorneys alongside members of the Oxford Board of Education, the town’s chief of police, the county prosecutors office and other supportive parties to demand a full investigation into the events that led up to Ethan Crumbley’s Nov. 30, 2021 attack on the Michigan school that killed four students and injured seven others, including a teacher.

“This is not about identifying people to prosecute – that’s what the attorney general continues to get wrong on this,” one of the gathered group said at the Monday press conference. “While that is a part of the story, the bigger piece is to drive the chance to change the future… this is an opportunity to leverage the attack as a lesson learned.”

The parents say that they are still in the dark about what could have been done differently leading up to that day and want accountability from the school district, officials and staff who they say have escaped liability over their roles in the tragedy. 

MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER ETHAN CRUMBLEY SENTENCED TO LIFE AFTER ADDRESSING COURT: ‘I AM A REALLY BAD PERSON’

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Ethan Crumbley answers “yes” to charges against him during his pre-trial hearing at Oakland County Courthouse on Oct. 24, 2022 in Pontiac, Michigan. (Clarence Tabb Jr./Detroit News via AP, File)

Although the Oxford Community Schools Board published a 590-page independent investigation carried out by Guidepost Solutions, the parents said only a third of involved parties cooperated. 

“In certain critical areas, individuals at every level of the district… failed to provide a safe and secure environment,” the investigation concluded.

School counselor Sean Hopkins and former Dean of Students Nicholas Ejak –  “the two people with the most knowledge about the decision to allow the shooter to go back to class” – refused to cooperate with the investigation, Guidepost wrote.

Only 51 of 143 current or former Oxford Community Schools employees responded to the company for interviews. Guidepost asked the district to require employees to participate, but they did not do so.

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“How do we know what we don’t know,” said Steve St. Juliana, whose 14-year-old daughter Hana St. Juliana died in the shooting, which also claimed the lives of Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Justin Shilling, 17.

JENNIFER AND JAMES CRUMBLEY SENTENCED IN SON’S MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTING

James and Jennifer Crumbley, parents of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, appear in court for a preliminary hearing. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

“What has the state done with [the Guidepost investigation]? They haven’t even acknowledged it,” another parent said. “There’s a lot already out there that needs to be turned into something, be turned into a countermeasure and turned into change.”

The group wants the state of Michigan to carry out and fund this investigation, and use subpoena power to force those who refused to talk before to do so now. 

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The majority of the information the victims’ parents have learned about the shooting came from the trials of James and Jennifer Crumbley, who became the first parents in the U.S. to be held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting carried out by their child. 

Both Crumbleys were convicted of involuntary manslaughter, concluding that they were responsible for the deaths of the Michigan students because, among other things, they did not properly store the gun that their son snuck out of their house that day.

Prosecutors argued at both trials that the parents ignored indications that their son was depressed and crying out for help.

They said that the Crumbleys could have prevented their son’s actions if they had disclosed that their son had access to a gun during a meeting at school on the morning of the shooting and brought their son home after learning during that meeting of a troubled drawing he made on a math worksheet. The drawing depicted a bleeding body, a gun and the words, “The thoughts won’t stop. Help me.”

MICHIGAN SCHOOL SHOOTER’S MOM WANTS HOUSE ARREST, BACKTRACKS ON REGRETS AND KILLER’S PARENTS FACE SENTENCINGS

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Four students were killed and seven others were injured on Nov. 30, 2021, when student Ethan Crumbley opened fire at Oxford High School. (Scott Olson)

Ethan Crumbley is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to all charges. He and his parents are appealing their sentences. 

However, the victims’ parents on Monday insisted that the school was the fourth culprit in the massacre. 

No government entity has weighed in on the Guidepost investigation or affirmed any of its findings; Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel offered three times to review the school shooting, the Detroit Free Press reported, but the Oxford School Board rejected her offers. 

The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, which had representatives at Monday’s meeting, gave multiple school officials confidential immunity agreements, including Hopkins and Ejak, according to the Free Press. 

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Nicole Beausoleil, the mother of Madisyn Baldwin, one of four Oxford High School students who was killed by Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, reacts to the jury’s verdict of guilty on all four counts of involuntary manslaughter in the trial of Ethan Crumbley’s father, James Crumbley on March 14, 2024 at Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac, Michigan. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

“The state [has] basic immunity unless they’re the ones pulling the trigger themselves, they’re covered, they have a union,” one speaker said on Monday. “Colorado changed their law after Columbine that in cases about school violence, that that immunity was not automatic. If you were grossly negligent, you could be held accountable.”

“It’s quite clear, this is an epidemic that’s growing. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when this will happen again,” another parent said. “Even if it can’t be prevented, if we can come up with countermeasures… it’s all worth it.”

“We’re infatuated at looking at the tool instead of thinking ‘Why are people feeling this way? Why are people feeling this way, where they want to do evil things?’ We’re only looking at the gun stuff.”

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Kansas

Investigation underway after 17-year-old found dead in wooded area in Kansas City, Kansas

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Investigation underway after 17-year-old found dead in wooded area in Kansas City, Kansas


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – An investigation is underway after a teenager was found dead in a wooded area, according to officials.

Kansas City, Kansas, Police say they were called to the 300 block of Steward Avenue around 11 a.m. where they found a 17-year-old male unconscious in a wooded area. He was pronounced dead at the scene, officials say.

The teenager was identified as being from Kansas City, Kansas.

Authorities said additional information will be released after an autopsy and a continued investigation.

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Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS hotline at 816-474-8477.

Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.



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Michigan

Sherman Lewis, Michigan State football All-American, ex-Lions OC, dies

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Sherman Lewis, Michigan State football All-American, ex-Lions OC, dies


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Sherman Lewis, one of the greatest Michigan State football players and a former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, died on Friday, May 15, an MSU spokesman confirmed. He was 83.

Lewis, an All-American running back for the Spartans and a longtime assistant coach at MSU and in the NFL, had been in an assisted living facility in recent years according to reporter and historian Tom Shanahan.

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“Sherm Lewis is a Giant in his death as he was a Giant his life,” former MSU star and College Football Hall of Famer Clinton Jones told Shanahan.

Born June 29, 1942 in Louisville, Ky., Lewis arrived at MSU to play for Duffy Daugherty in football and to run track for the Spartans and became a captain of both teams. In 1962, Lewis earned honorable mention All-American honors and second-team All-Big Ten, then a year later was a first-team All-American and the 1963 Football News Player of the Year after rushing for 577 yards on 90 carries catching 11 passes for 303 yards. Lewis ran for 1,566 yards and 23 touchdowns, was a Big Ten champion in the long jump and 300-yard dash. He was inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.

Lewis played professionally with Toronto of the Canadian Football League (1964-65) and the New York Jets (1966) of the AFL before returning to MSU as an assistant coach from 1969-82 under Daugherty, Denny Stolz, Darryl Rogers and Frank “Muddy” Waters. He then went on to an accomplished career coaching in the NFL, spending nine seasons with San Francisco from 1983-91 and helping lead the 49ers to three Super Bowl wins while serving as a mentor to Roger Craig as running backs coach and then Jerry Rice and John Taylor as wide receivers coach.

In 1992, Lewis became offensive coordinator in Green Bay, a role he held for eight years from 1992-99. Lewis helped Brett Favre, former MSU star Andre Rison and the Packers win the 1996 Super Bowl. He was the first Black offensive coordinator to win a Super Bowl title.

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Lewis was offensive coordinator for two seasons in Minnesota (2000-01) before spending his final three seasons with the Lions, including his last two as offensive coordinator from 2003-04.

Over 22 seasons in the NFL, Lewis’ teams compiled a cumulative 219-131-1 record. He was passed over twice for the MSU coaching job, first when Waters was hired in 1980 and then again in 1995 when the Spartans hired Nick Saban.

“Sherman Lewis was a true Spartan legend,” former MSU star Jimmy Raye, who also coached with Lewis and in the NFL, told Shanahan. “His legacy extended beyond the football field, where his electrifying play gained All-American recognition. He was the first player from the segregated South to play a substantial role for coach Duffy Daugherty and the Spartans. …

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“As a mentor and lifelong friend, he set the standard for many future Spartans players and coaches to come. REST IN LOVE my brother.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes on Apple PodcastsSpotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.





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Minnesota

Videos show Stewart Trail Fire destruction near Two Harbors, Minnesota

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Videos show Stewart Trail Fire destruction near Two Harbors, Minnesota


A wildfire several miles north of Two Harbors, Minnesota, has grown to over 370 acres, according to officials.

In a Saturday morning update, the Minnesota Incident Command System says the Stewart Trail Fire is 0% contained, but firefighters are working to establish a containment line with heavy equipment such as dozers, as well as handlines. Crews worked on containment overnight. 

MICS says numerous aircraft — helicopters, scooper planes and a single-engine airtanker — helped fight the fire by dropping water and fire retardant. 

Crews determined overnight that the fire size is 376 acres.

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Video posted to social media shows the wildfire scorching trees and structures along Highway 61. The flames can be seen near Betty’s Pies, which was among the businesses evacuated. 

Evacuations have been ordered in an area between Two Harbors and Castle Danger. More evacuation details can be found on Lake County | Fire Safety & Evacuation.  

Authorities have closed Highway 61 at County Highway 2 in Two Harbors and at County Highway 106 in Castle Danger. A detour has been set up for those who need to travel around the area. 

Gov. Tim Walz issued a statement on social media Saturday morning. 

“We have a number of agencies responding to help communities with the ongoing wildfires up north, including the DNR, MnDOT, and DPS,” Walz said. “Grateful to all those stepping into harms way to keep their neighbors safe.”

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The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for 15 counties in parts of central and northeast Minnesota due to extreme fire risk. The affected areas include Cass, Crow Wing, Aitkin, Carlton, St. Louis, Pine, Otter Tail, Wadena, Grant, Douglas, Todd, Morrison, Mille Lacs, Kanabec and Benton counties. It remains in place until 9 p.m. Saturday.

“When fire risk is this high, it’s important to be careful with anything could spark a wildfire,” said Mike Warnke, DNR wildfire administrative supervisor. 



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