Michigan Shooting: Dramatic Student Testimony

Video shows students sheltered and fleeing Michigan shooting 3:24

Oxford, Michigan (CNN) -

The terror over the Oxford Michigan High School shooting, which left four dead, began with gunfire, screaming and an urgent message on a loudspeaker.

Then the frightened students barricaded the doors, called for help, and collected whatever they could grab in case they had to defend themselves.

Aiden Page, a senior, was in a classroom when he heard two gunshots Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities called the shooting an "absolutely ruthless and murderous" rampage by a sophomore that left four students dead and seven others injured in the deadliest US school shooting since 2018.

Similar to the active attackers drills they had practiced, Page saw her teacher rush in and shut the door, then students pushed desks against her, she told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

• A beloved soccer player and a senior among the victims of the Michigan shooting

Michigan shooting accused to be tried as an adult for terrorism 5:31

"We grabbed calculators, we grabbed scissors in case the shooter got in and we had to attack him," he said, describing how a bullet went through one of the desks they had used to block the door.

advertising

In a sign language class, freshman Mark Kluska overheard someone announce a lockdown over the school's loudspeakers.

His master closed the door and secured it with a metal lock.

"I started to realize it was real when I started hearing screaming," Kluska told CNN.

Later, someone outside the room who claimed to be from the sheriff's office told Kluska and his classmates that everything was safe and that they could leave, a video the freshman recorded shows.

"We are not willing to take that risk at this time," replied the teacher.

Michigan high school shooting leaves several wounded 1:55

Michigan shooting victims escaped through window

It is unclear who the person at the door was.

But the teacher quickly directed the students to get out into the snow through a first-floor window, Kluska said.

From there, they ran across a courtyard to another part of the building, where a police officer led them to safety.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard confirmed during a press conference Wednesday that the suspect never knocked on any door.

More than 100 calls were made to 911. About two to three minutes after the officers arrived, they found a 15-year-old suspect, later identified as Ethan Crumbley, and detained him without incident, Bouchard said.

Crumbley has been charged as an adult with terrorism that caused the deaths of four people and four counts of first degree murder.

He was also charged with seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm while committing a felony, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald said.

The suspect's attorney pleaded not guilty on behalf of his client at Wednesday's arraignment.

The judge scheduled a probable cause hearing for December 13 and a preliminary examination hearing for December 20.

During Crumbley's arraignment on Wednesday, Lt. Tim Willis said two separate videos were recovered from the alleged attacker's cell phone in which he spoke of shooting and killing students the next day at Oxford High School.

In addition to the cell phone, a journal was recovered from Crumbley's backpack detailing his "desire to shoot the school," Willis said.

• The alleged Michigan school shooter was charged with terrorism, why?

Parents and children are in the Meijer's parking lot at Oxford High School, where many students gathered after an active attacker on November 30, 2021. Police detained the alleged attacker and there were multiple victims.

One of those killed in the Michigan shooting was 14 years old.

The four students who died have been identified as Madisyn Baldwin, 17;

Tate Myre, 16;

Hana St. Juliana, 14 years old;

and Justin Shilling, 17, authorities said.

Justin died Wednesday morning in a hospital;

the others died Tuesday, the sheriff's office said.

Tate died on patrol while an officer was taking him to a hospital, Bouchard said.

Anita's Kitchen, where Shilling worked, shared a statement on social media about him.

"Justin was an exemplary employee, a devoted friend and co-worker, a co-captain of his bowling team, and it was simply a pleasure to have him around. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time," the statement said.

Seven other people - six students and a teacher - were shot, Bouchard said.

Among the injured was a 14-year-old girl who was hooked up to a ventilator after surgery, Bouchard said Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, it was announced that the ventilator had been removed and was in stable condition.

A 14-year-old boy had a gunshot wound to the jaw and head.

The teacher, a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy were discharged, Bouchard said.

The attacker's parents could face charges

This was the deadliest shooting at a US school since eight students and two teachers were killed in May 2018 at Santa Fe High School in Texas, according to a CNN tally.

There have been 48 shootings this year at Finder to 12th grade schools, 32 of them since August 1.

The suspect was being held in a juvenile detention center.

Bouchard said authorities asked a judge to transfer him from the detention center to the Oakland County jail.

The judge granted the request.

The first-degree murder charges require allegations of premeditation, and the evidence in this case indicates that the shooting was planned "long before the incident," McDonald said.

This shooting was "absolutely premeditated," McDonald told reporters, without elaborating.

McDonald's office will consider charges against the suspect's parents, he said.

Authorities said the weapon used in the shooting, a 9mm Sig Sauer SP2022 semi-automatic pistol, was purchased by Crumbley's father on Friday, four days before the shots were heard at the school, Bouchard said.

Authorities are considering charges against both parents, and McDonald said a decision would be made "quickly."

Possible charges stem from the parents possessing a weapon.

McDonald said that means guns are properly secured, ensuring ammunition is kept separate, among other legal responsibilities.

• Ethan Crumbley, charged in the Michigan shooting, will be tried as an adult for first-degree murder and terrorism, among other charges.

Seniors pushed desks against a door after the shooting began, he said.

"We have to hold people accountable who don't do that," he said.

CNN has lobbied the prosecutor to speak about whether evidence was recovered to support possible charges and what charges are being considered.

The prosecutor declined to go into detail, citing the investigation, but reiterated that an announcement would be made as soon as possible on whether charges will be filed.

CNN has attempted to contact Ethan Crumbley's parents and is attempting to identify an attorney for them.

What we know about the suspect in the Michigan shooting

Ethan Crumbley, a suspect in the shooting at Oxford High School, Michigan.

McDonald told CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday that he felt it was tragic how insensitive people were to gun violence, but that gun owners should be held accountable for their ownership and possession of a firearm.

The suspect and his parents met with school officials hours before the shooting.

Bouchard said the 15-year-old had not been on law enforcement radar prior to the shooting.

However, authorities learned after the shooting that the suspect and his parents met with school officials a few hours before the shooting.

Officials met only with the suspect the day before and with the suspect and his parents on the day of the shooting, Bouchard said.

"The day before, it was a meeting with school staff about concerning behavior and the meeting for the day was with school staff and parents on a different topic," Bouchard said.

The bailiff refused to get into trouble on either day.

"Before those two meetings, there was no contact or anything in his file related to behavior or discipline," he said.

McDonald told CNN he could not comment on what, specifically, the gunman, parents and school officials discussed during their meeting.

"There is additional evidence that has yet to be released, but I can assure you that it was disturbing, it was disturbing, and sadly, he was allowed to return to class," he said.

The video shows the assailant "was shooting people at point-blank range," the sheriff said.

Investigators recovered more than 30 shell casings, said the sheriff, who had previously said that at least a dozen bullets had been fired.

A mother reacts to the shooting at a Michigan high school 4:07

"We think he fired at least 30 shots," he said.

Bouchard said investigators recovered two 15-round magazines and a third overnight.

Investigators also discovered that the suspect had 18 rounds left and seven in his pocket.

"With so much ammo still with him ... the school's swift actions and shutdown, as well as officers heading into harm's way, saved lives," Bouchard said.

Video from the school shows the assailant was "shooting people at point-blank range, often in the head or chest," Bouchard told CNN's "New Day" early Wednesday.

"It's creepy. It's absolutely ruthless, killer," Bouchard said.

So was the shooting

Prosecutors said during Crumbley's arraignment that they saw video from the school's surveillance cameras showing Crumbley "methodically and deliberately" walking the hallways, pointing a gun at the students and shooting.

"What is shown in that video, honestly judge, I do not have the words to describe how horrible it was," said prosecutor Marc Keast.

The video showed Crumbley with a backpack and a minute later exiting the bathroom without the backpack and with a gun in hand, authorities said.

He started shooting just outside the bathroom, Keast said, but after the children started fleeing, he continued walking down the hall at a "methodical pace" and shot inside classrooms and at students who hadn't had a chance to escape.

This continued for another four to five minutes and he went to another bathroom, Keast said.

When the officers arrived, he put down the gun and surrendered.

"A preliminary review of the defendant's social media accounts, his cell phone, as well as other documented evidence recovered at the scene showed that this defendant planned this shooting, deliberately bringing the gun that day with the intention of murdering as many students as he could. "Keast said.

While much of the shooting was at close range, it nevertheless seemed "random," Bouchard told CNN, without elaborating.

The assailant "tried to break through the classroom doors," the sheriff said.

"He actually fired through several of the doors that I looked at last night, through the barricaded doors ... Some of those barricades were hit by gunfire," Bouchard said.

Bouchard praised the work of his deputies and other local law enforcement agencies that responded Tuesday, saying their coordination and active training of shooters proved invaluable.

Officers were dispatched to the school at 12:52 p.m. and the suspect was in custody three minutes after his arrival, Bouchard said.

As officers made their way through the school, they encountered the suspect, who then raised his hands, Bouchard said.

The officers took the weapon and took the suspect into custody.

"I think they literally saved lives, having shot the suspect with a loaded firearm still in the building," the sheriff said.

"We think we have some writings that contain his thoughts."

"We think we have some writings that contain some of his thoughts," Bouchard said regarding the investigation of a motive, adding that he did not immediately know if the texts reveal the intention.

Investigators executed a search warrant at the suspect's home and searched the school, he said.

Authorities seized a phone and are examining other seized items.

Michigan law prohibits police from talking to a minor without parental permission, and the parents declined that permission and requested an attorney, Bouchard said.

"So we cannot get the motive of the suspect we have in custody, but we think we have a way to get a lot of supporting information on how and why this happened. We have recovered some evidence that we are now beginning to study thoroughly," Bouchard said. .

Authorities are also investigating images of a target and the weapon posted on social media by the suspect, it added.

'I'm going to text my family, say I love them'

As hundreds of law enforcement officers stormed the campus Tuesday, students and teachers relied on the tactics they had learned from active attacker drills to protect themselves.

"This district has been very good at training its staff and its students on active attackers," said Sheriff Michael McCabe.

Kluska's teacher, Moisés Cortez, sprang into action after a shutdown was announced over the school's loudspeakers, said the student who recorded video of his classmates escaping through a window.

"He closed the door and put, like, a metal stop so that no one could kick in the door."

Kluska told CNN.

"After turning off the lights, he told us to get to the corner because this might not be a drill and he wants to be safe."

The people were injured when they ran out of the school, Bouchard said.

Most were treated and released from a nearby staging area.

Zander Cumbey, a junior in high school, told CNN's Victor Blackwell that he started hearing screaming about a minute after sitting down in his classroom.

"I heard screaming coming from the hallway and then the first shot occurred, and my teacher, he walked into the classroom, locked the door and told us to call 911," Zander said.

"And then we hear the rest of the shots, more screaming."

He said that while he was on the phone with dispatchers, he was not actually speaking to them.

"I just said something like 'High school-Oxford-shooter' because I couldn't speak," Zander said.

He texted his parents telling them he loved them, he said, and texted his younger brother, who also attends school, to see if he was safe.

Zander told CNN that one of the victims, Tate Myre, was a close friend who was on the soccer team with him.

Donna Sanders' youngest grandson was switching classes when he heard gunshots, he told CNN.

He and others ran through an exit door and went to a nearby grocery store to escape, he told her.

"He was able to run to safety with others while his brother was trapped inside," Sanders said.

Sanders' daughter, Vontysha Pittman, said her oldest son sought safety in a classroom with a teacher and other students.

He hid under a desk and called his father to tell him what was happening, he said.

"They are both safe at home, but they are broken. We need prayers and not just for ourselves, but for all Oxford families," Sanders said.

Page's classroom was closed for an hour, the student told CNN.

The whole experience he describes as "insane" as he contemplated whether he would survive the ordeal.

"The first thing that crossed my mind was, 'Is this really happening? I'm going to text my family to tell them that I love them just in case, if I die.' Then when everything calmed down for a second, I was able to catch my breath and rationalize things, "he said.

- CNN's Adrienne Broaddus and Shimon Prokupecz reported from Oxford.

Jason Hanna and Amir Vera wrote in Atlanta.

Carolyn Sung, Taylor Romine, Laura Ly, Caroll Alvarado, Kristina Sgueglia, and Patrick Cornell contributed to this report.

USA shooting