FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2022, photo, Ethan Crumbley, a teenager accused of killing four students in a shooting at Oxford High School, attends a hearing at Oakland County circuit court in Pontiac, Mich. A lawyer representing families of victims of a Michigan high school shooting says, Thursday, Sept. 22 some teachers and a counselor were aware of the suspect's troubling behavior months before the mass shooting last fall.
“From literally the beginning of school, Ethan Crumbley was evidencing signs of being a highly troubled individual, to say the least,” said Detroit attorney Ven Johnson, citing depositions taken in a civil lawsuit against Oxford Community Schools and some staff at Oxford High School.as an adult on murder and other charges in the Nov. 30 shooting.
One teacher said Crumbley drew what appeared to be an ammunition magazine on a note card in late August 2021. Crumbley also responded in a survey that his favorite books included “Making Bombs for Hitler,” while “Dexter” and “Breaking Bad" were among his favorite television shows. A week or so later, he wrote in an autobiographical poem assignment for a Spanish teacher that he “feels terrible and that his family is a mistake," Johnson quoted from an email the teacher sent to a school counselor.
The teacher who received the note card said in her deposition that she didn't see the drawing until the day before the shooting. There apparently was no follow up to the Spanish teacher's email in September asking the counselor to touch base with Crumbley, Johnson said.