[WaPo]Michigan school district could have stopped shooting, two survivors’ parents allege in lawsuit

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/12/09/oxford-school-shooting-lawsuits/

Michigan school district could have stopped shooting, two survivors’ parents allege in lawsuit
By Meryl Kornfield
Today at 4:10 p.m. EST

Parents of two Oxford High School students caught in gunfire last month are suing the school district and officials, blaming them for putting their children in danger by not doing more to stop the gunman.

In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, Jeffrey and Brandi Franz, parents of a 17-year-old senior, and a 14-year-old freshman allege the school staff violated their children’s right to be free from danger under the 14th Amendment. The 17-year old was shot in the neck as the younger sibling narrowly escaped the volley of bullets, according to the complaint written by the family’s lawyer Geoffrey Fieger. The family is seeking $100 million in addition to punitive damages.

“They were shot down like they were in a war zone,” Fieger told reporters Thursday. “And since then their lives have been absolutely upended.”

The lawsuit, the first known civil suit filed in connection with the Nov. 30 shooting, could be joined by other litigation or possible criminal prosecution to hold school administrators after four were killed, according to experts. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald (D) said she has not ruled out prosecuting school officials. Fieger said he intends to file additional lawsuits in state and federal court.

A spokesperson for the school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit from The Washington Post.

The lawsuit names the Oxford school district, Superintendent Tim Throne, Oxford High School principal Steven Wolf, the dean of students, two counselors, two teachers and a staff member.

The morning before the shooting, counselors met with the accused shooter, Ethan Crumbley, and his parents after a teacher found a disturbing drawing of a gun, bullet and bloodied person with captions including “my life is useless,” according to prosecutors.

The school staff did not search the 15-year-old’s backpack, where a semiautomatic handgun was stashed at one point, officials say. Hours later, they say, Crumbley pulled the gun from the bag and turned it on his fellow classmates.

“We’re going to hold people responsible for betraying the trust we put in them to protect our children,” Fieger said.

This story is breaking and will be updated.
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