Video camera captured Oxford school shooting suspect coming out from the bathroom and firing at random
Suspect pretended to be police officer to get access to barricaded classrooms
The suspect in the Oxford High School shooting, which has now resulted in four deaths, came out firing from a bathroom, authorities have said after reviewing surveillance footage.
The Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters on Wednesday that law enforcement officials were going through hours of video from cameras across the school to map the suspect’s actions, but said that his targets “appeared random”, according to The New York Times.
He added that the shootings were “absolutely brutally cold-hearted” but that no motive has been identified.
The suspect was being held at a juvenile detention centre as of earlier on Wednesday. Law enforcement has said that the suspect is a 15-year-old sophomore, identified as Ethan Crumbley.
Authorities searched the home of the suspect on Tuesday night. Sheriff Bouchard said they searched his computer, phone, and social media accounts.
The suspect used a semiautomatic handgun and fired between 15 and 20 shots before he was taken into custody by police. Oakland County undersheriff Michael McCabe said the suspect had been in class before the Tuesday shooting and that he “gave up without any problems”.
Undersheriff McCabe added that the parents stopped the police from questioning their child. Law enforcement has said that they believe the suspect acted alone and hadn’t planned the shooting with anybody else. They’re still investigating if the shooting was random or planned.
“I would like him charged as an adult,” Sheriff Bouchard said, but added that it would be “a decision for the prosecutor’s office”.
He said that the suspect’s father had purchased a 9-millimeter Sig Sauer handgun four days before the shooting on Tuesday.
The suspect still had seven bullets in the weapon when he was apprehended, Sheriff Bouchard said. “He is not talking and neither are the parents,” he added.
The Sheriff said that the suspect acted as if he was an officer to gain access to barricaded classrooms. “We know by witnesses he was tugging on doors, and we know from physical evidence he shot through doors up and down more than one hallway,” he said.
A fourth student, 17-year-old Justin Shilling, died in hospital earlier on Wednesday.
Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe said that Justin died around 10am on Wednesday at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac.
The other three victims in the shooting that occurred on Tuesday have been identified as 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, 16-year-old Tate Myre, and 14-year-old Hana St Juliana.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said during a press briefing on Tuesday night that Tate Myre died in a police vehicle on the way to the hospital. He didn’t elaborate on the other deaths.
Sheriff Bouchard said that 11 people were shot by the 15-year-old gunman and that Oxford is a “quiet sweet community that had its innocence shattered”.