15-year-old who opened fire at a US school was “ruthless,” police say

The 15-year-old who opened fire Tuesday at his high school in Michigan he was “absolutely ruthless” and showed “chilling” determination, police said of this umpteenth firearms tragedy in the United States.

“He shot people point-blank, often aiming for the head or chest,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.

The toll of victims, which increased on Wednesday, amounts to four dead and seven gunshot wounded, almost all between the ages of 14 and 17.

The young man, arrested on the spot and identified as Ethan Crumbley, He could spend the rest of his days in prison, as he will be processed as if he were of legal age, announced local prosecutor Karen McDonald.

The official said that there is a “mountain of evidence on the internet, on video or on social networks” that shows that it was not an impulsive act but “totally premeditated.”

Police found a video recorded on Monday on the young man’s cell phone announcing his intention to attack his companions the next day, a plan that he had also recorded in a newspaper found in his backpack.

Crumbley was brought to justice Wednesday, which charged him with various charges, including “murders” and “acts of terrorism.”

His motivations remain a mystery: he did not explain them since his arrest and chose to remain silent during his appearance, in which he pleaded not guilty through his lawyer.

“My new beauty”

The shooting occurred on Tuesday in the small town of Oxford, about 40 miles north of metropolis Detroit, shortly before 1:00 p.m. local time.

Crumbley, carrying a 9mm caliber Sig Sauer semiautomatic pistol, opened fire as he methodically advanced through the school. He fired at least 30 bullets.

“He intended to kill people”Sheriff Bouchard summed up on CNN.

The deceased are two girls of 14 and 17 years old and two boys of 16 and 17 years old. Five young victims remained hospitalized Wednesday, including a 14-year-old girl in critical condition. A 47-year-old student and teacher were discharged.

Sheriff Bouchard estimated Wednesday that Crumbley had fired at random, without choosing his victims.

Authorities are considering bringing the parents of the attacker to trial, prosecutor McDonald said.

In addition to the pistol used in the attack, purchased by Crumbley’s father on November 26 during the Black Friday sale, rifles were seized at the family home.

Young Crumbley posted a photo of the gun on his Instagram page, writing, “I just got my newest beauty today.”

“Rights to silence”

According to photos posted on social media, the young man trained with the pistol before the attack.

Investigators believe he entered the school Tuesday with the gun in his backpack. Oxford High School does not have a metal detector gantry, as there are in many schools in the United States.

Crumbley had no criminal or school misconduct history to suggest trouble.

But Sheriff Bouchard said he had been called to the school’s administration office Monday with an unspecified problem. And the Tuesday before the attack, the school authorities had summoned him again, this time along with his parents.

After the meeting, he returned to class and, shortly after, came out of a bathroom and started shooting, reloading ammunition as his classmates fled.

“We know that he tried to enter the classrooms, that he shot at the doors of several of them”, Bouchard explained.

He carried three 15-round magazines with the gun and had 18 rounds left when police advanced on him at school and forced him to give up, a few minutes after the first call to the 911 emergency number.

Detained in a center for juvenile delinquents, Crumbley “invoked his right to silence” after receiving a visit from his parents, who asked him not to speak to investigators and hired a lawyer, police said.

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