Sixth Circuit Skeptical That Michigan School Motivated Shooter

Claims that school officials escalated the situation in the hours leading up to the 2021 mass shooting at Michigan’s Oxford High School were met with a panel of Sixth Circuit judges Wednesday who questioned whether the shooter would’ve carried out the crime anyway.

Judge Raymond M. Kethledge said the school shooter, then-15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, appeared highly motivated to carry out the attack and pushed back on the notion that actions by school counselor Shawn Hopkins and then-Dean of Students Nick Ejak furthered that motivation. After meeting with Crumbley, the school officials returned Crumbley’s backpack that contained a handgun and sent ...