The Oakland County Sheriff's Office has a couple of people.
The parents of the school shooting suspect were charged by a Michigan prosecutor.
Legal experts say that the charges are rare, but the evidence in this case is substantial.
Two former prosecutors told Insider that the parents are likely to be convicted.
The suspected shooter's parents will be charged in the Oxford High School shooting that left four students dead and seven others injured.
The suspect, a sophomore at Oxford High School, was arrested in connection to the shooting. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of felony firearm possession.
Under Michigan law, the government must prove that the defendants created a situation that had an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury.
Legal experts told Insider that the charges against people other than the shooting suspect are rare.
The circumstances leading up to the Tuesday tragedy are likely to stick with the charges brought against the couple.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Insider that the evidence was strong. I would expect a guilty verdict.
There was disturbing evidence leading up to the shooting.
On the morning of Black Friday, James Crumbley took his son shopping and purchased a 9mm handgun that authorities said was used in the shooting. The next day, she said she and her son were testing out his new Christmas present in a social media post.
The suspect later posted a photo of himself holding the gun with the caption, "Just got my new baby today."
A teacher at Oxford High School notified school officials after she saw the shooting suspect using his cellphone to look for something. The school contacted her and left a message, but she never returned the call.
According to investigators, she sent a text message to her son that said: "I'm not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught."
On the morning of the shooting, another teacher found a note in the suspect's desk that included a picture of a semi-automatic handgun and the words "the thoughts won't stop, help me" and "blood everywhere." The drawing included a person who appeared to have been shot with a laughing emoji and the words "my life is useless."
The student was removed from class and scheduled to meet with his parents. The Crumbleys were shown a drawing and told to get their son counseling. Prosecutors said the couple resisted officials' suggestion that he be removed from class.
The suspect emerged from the bathroom and began shooting. When the news of an active shooter broke, she told her son to not do it. James reported a missing gun and said he believed his son was the shooter.
The drawer in which the new gun was kept was unlocked, according to prosecutors.
The couple disappeared after McDonald announced charges against them. The US marshals office joined the search after they were classified as fugitives. The couple were arrested in the basement of a Detroit building.
Robert A. Sanders, a former federal prosecutor and chair of the national security department at the University of New Haven, told Insider that mounting detailed evidence against the Crumbleys will likely aid the prosecution in securing convictions.
The Crumbleys don't tell anyone that the suspect has a ready access to a firearm. The argument is that they could be held to a duty if they didn't act before their child did.
A memorial outside of Oxford High School continues to grow.
There is no precedent for charging the parents of a suspected school shooter.
The only reason it happened is because the evidence is against the Crumbleys.
This is very rare. Rahmani said that most parents don't act like that. Most parents don't give their children guns.
McDonald said the additional charges were meant to hold the people who helped contribute to the tragedy responsible when she announced the charges against the parents. The attorney said that the move was meant to send a message that gun owners have a responsibility to keep their weapons safe.
This conduct goes far beyond simple carelessness. Rahmani said that the Crumbleys' behavior was similar to playing Russian Roulette with children's lives.
The Crumbleys appeared to flee after the announcement of their indictment, which could help the prosecution's case. Flight can be used as evidence of guilt by prosecutors if they argue the couple chose to run because they knew they were guilty.
The actions of individual people stack up against them.
Both experts said that the likelihood of conviction is strong.
Rahmani thinks it's a straightforward manslaughter case. I have been texting and driving while under the influence and killed someone.
Rahmani said he would expect a 15-year sentence to fall on the higher end of guidelines in Michigan.
Rahmani said that they obstructed justice by fleeing. Their conduct was so bad.
A police road block restricts access to Oxford High School after a shooting on November 30, 2021.
A conviction is not guaranteed.
Rahmani said that the case was a strong one. People have very strong feelings about anything that may affect the justice system.
One challenge the prosecution could face is "America's Second Amendment nuttiness."
The issue of gun rights and responsibility is a hot-button one in the US, and some jurors might be resistant to seeing the conduct of the Crumbleys as wrong.
The prosecution's case could be hurt by the lack of safe gun storage laws in Michigan, which could make it difficult for a jury to believe that the shooter is responsible for the tragedy.
The charges against the Crumbleys could be seen by supporters of the Second Amendment as the first step in a slippery slope that could lead to the curtailment of gun rights.
Rahmani says there is a way to deal with that problem.
He said that the prosecutors have to do a good job in jury selection.
The charges against the Crumbleys could set a new precedent.
Rahmani said that the circumstances in this case are not likely to be replicated again.
He said that it was the perfect storm of bad evidence for the Crumbleys.
The failure of past tragedies to set new precedents when it comes to mass shooting is something that Sanders is skeptical of.
When babies were killed in a Connecticut school and four times as many were killed in a Florida nightclub, we can't get gun law changes.
The original article is on Insider.
