A judge set a million dollar bond on James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the teenager accused of killing four students in a Michigan school shooting, after the couple were detained early Saturday morning.
James and Jennifer Crumbley were found inside a commercial building after authorities declared them fugitives and offered a reward to find them.
"Where and how we found them supports the idea that they were hiding and not looking to turn themselves in,"
Oakland County Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard said at a news conference Saturday afternoon.
Their lawyers, meanwhile, have assured that the couple was not fleeing, but had left the city "for their own safety."
Undated photographs provided by the Oakland County Police Department of Jennifer Crumbley and James Crumbley.AP
Both have pleaded not guilty to each of the four involuntary manslaughter charges against them during a hearing held at Zoom.
But now investigators are considering
adding new charges against him given
the circumstances of his arrest that may be evasion or obstruction of justice, the sheriff said.
Faced with the escape danger they represent, Judge Julie Nicholson not only assigned a $
500,000 bond to each and required GPS monitoring
if they pay to be released.
Ethan Crumbley, the couple's 15-year-old teenage son, is accused of being the author of the shooting that occurred last Tuesday at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit.
He would have used a pistol that, according to the authorities, was bought by his father days before.
[The young man arrested for the shooting in Michigan recorded a video where he expresses his intention to kill his companions]
Juliana, 14 years old;
Madisyn Baldwin, 17;
Tate Myre, 16;
and Justin Shilling, 17, were killed in the shooting.
Seven other people, including a teacher, were seriously injured.
It was a Christmas present: four days before the Michigan shooting the suspect's parents bought him the gun
Dec. 3, 202102: 18
Both the parents and the child are isolated and isolated
.
At the time of the hearing, in a virtual way, Jennifer sobbed trying to answer the questions of the judge and James shook his head when it was said that his son had full access to the weapon he used for the attack.
Police began searching for the couple after they
failed to respond to a series of calls
and were unable to locate them.
On Friday night, sheriffs announced a reward of up to 10,000 each in exchange for information leading to their arrests.
[The student who killed his classmates in a Michigan school shot more than 15 times]
A Detroit business owner spotted a car believed to be connected to the Crumbleys in his parking lot Friday night, McCabe said.
A woman seen near the vehicle ran away when
the business owner called 911
.
The couple were later located inside a Detroit Impression Company retail space.
Detroit Police Chief James E. White said the couple "received help getting into the building" and that the person who did so may also face charges.
The authorities indicated that the couple did not carry weapons at the time of their arrest.
After the attack in Michigan, more than 60 schools have had to close due to shooting threats
Dec. 3, 202100: 33
Defense attorneys for the Crumbleys indicated that they never intended to flee and that they had made plans to meet with them early Saturday morning.
Attorney Shannon Smith accused prosecutors of "carefully selecting" facts by publicly disclosing them, including the accusation that the teenage son had unrestricted access to the weapon used in the shooting.
"
Our clients are just as devastated as everyone else
," Smith said, adding that the gun was locked.
He did not provide further details during the hearing on Saturday.
Photos from the Oakland County Sheriff's Department show James and Jennifer Crumbley, Ethan Crumble's parents.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced Friday that the Crumbleys had been charged with four counts of manslaughter in Tuesday's attack.
He accuses them of
not intervening despite having found a drawing and a chilling message on his son's desk,
which showed a gun, a bullet and a bleeding victim of a gunshot, among other signs that there was a latent situation.
Each could face up to 15 years in prison, a spokeswoman for McDonald's office said.
Ethan Crumbley has been charged as an adult with four counts of first degree murder, one count of terrorism, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.