School shooter Ethan Crumbley adopted a ‘shooter’s stance’ and learned how to ‘tactically reload’ at gun range visits with his dad, before translating those skills when he opened fire on his classmates, a weapons expert told jurors.
The ongoing trial of James Crumbley saw ATF Special Agent Brett Brandon take the stand on Monday, where he testified over how the teenager’s shooting skills ‘stood out’ to him when he killed four classmates in November 2021.
Brandon said that when he reviewed footage of the school shooting, Ethan’s stance was similar to one taught to law enforcement, and he recognized how efficiently the teen reloaded his weapon as he opened fire.
Prosecutors raised the issue as they attempt to paint James as a negligent father who overlooked his son’s mental health issues, including when he took him to the gun range eight times and bought him a new 9mm handgun four days before the shooting.
James Crumbley (pictured Friday) took his son Ethan to the shooting range eight times before he opened fire on his classmates. He is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter related to the 2021 Oxford High School massacre
ATF Special Agent Brett Brandon (right) testified Friday that Ethan Crumbley’s ‘shooter stance’ and ‘tactical reloading’ during the school shooting ‘stood out’ to him, and resembled techniques commonly taught to law enforcement
Ethan Crumbley is now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting, where he killed four classmates and injured seven others
One of the teen killer’s trips to the shooting range with his father was shown to the court Friday, eerily matching the stance he took when he shot and killed classmates
On the day of the shooting, Ethan had snuck the Sig-Sauer 9mm handgun that his father bought for him into his school backpack.
He then alarmed teachers by drawing school shootings and writing ‘the voices won’t stop, help me’ on his math homework, leading the school to bring his parents in for a meeting.
When they declined to take him home, Ethan was allowed back into class, before he went to a bathroom and withdrew the gun shortly before 1pm.
Brandon testified on Monday that when he reviewed footage of the shooting, he was struck by the way that Ethan moved throughout the halls, and adopted what the ATF Special Agent described as a ‘shooter’s stance.’
Ethan killed four classmates and injured seven others in a quick spree, and his efficiency was also what stood out to Brandon.
He noted that Ethan appeared to understand ‘tactical reloading’, where you keep extra ammunition in spent clips in your pocket, to ensure the handgun is maximally loaded for short bursts of shooting.
If not entirely emptied, keeping the ammunition clip in his pocket would have allowed Ethan to partially reload his gun later if needed, a technique commonly taught to law enforcement.
Brandon, a weapons expert, also testified over the alleged lax security that James kept around his guns, which included keeping one of his gun lock box codes as just ‘000.’
He also owned KelTech and Derringer weapons, which Ethan had used on his visits to the gun range, but they were kept in the unsecured lock box alongside a ‘cable lock’ that was intended to be used on Ethan’s Sig-Sauer.
Brandon testified that the cable lock didn’t appear to have been taken out of its packaging, and was thrown into the KelTech box in a drawer in his kitchen.
The ATF agent added that if James had wanted to secure the gun with a cable lock, it would have taken him about 10 seconds.
James Crumbley (seen on the third day of his trial on Monday) is facing involuntary manslaughter charges over his son Ethan’s 2021 school shooting
School counselor Shawn Hopkins (pictured) testified on Monday that he ‘could see the sadness’ in Ethan Crumbley shortly before he opened fire on dozens of classmates
Allegations that James negligently ignored his son’s disturbing behavior have centered largely on the day of the shooting.
Earlier on Monday, Ethan’s school counselor testified that his father insisted he ‘talked’ about his son’s mental health issues, justifying why he allowed the student to remain in school on the day he opened fire on his classmates.
Shawn Hopkins, the former counselor at Oxford High School, spoke to ‘red flags’ that Ethan exhibited before the shooting, including alarming homework drawings Ethan made that morning depicting mass shootings.
When the parents were called into school, Hopkins insisted that he asked the parents to take him home, but admitted to allowing him to stay when they declined.
‘I didn’t want him to be alone, so my thought was if the parents had to return to work, I wanted to make sure the student was with people,’ he testified. ‘My concern was him, his well-being, his ability to be safe and cared for.’
The homework took center stage last month when James’ wife Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of the same charges her estranged husband is now facing, and she faces decades in prison when she is sentenced in April.
As Crumbley’s trial began Thursday, it was revealed James had his communication privileges revoked after allegedly making threatening statements from jail, reports WJBK.
On the morning of the school shooting, teachers became concerned after finding alarming drawings and writings on his homework, including drawings of shooting victims around ‘the thoughts won’t stop… Help me’
Police say Crumbley’s first victim was freshman Phoebe Arthur (pictured), who was shot in the face but miraculously survived. A total of 11 people were shot, four of whom died
Madisyn Baldwin, 17, (left) and Hana St Juliana, 14, (right) died in the 2021 shooting rampage at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit
Justin Shilling, 17, (left) and Tate Myre, 16, (right) were also killed in the senseless shooting
Prosecutors allege that James and Jennifer both ignored Ethan’s cries for mental health support before the shooting, with James also buying his son the handgun used in the shooting four days prior.
The gun purchase is expected to be pivotal in James’ trial, which Ethan had begged his father to buy for him on Black Friday after months of pleading for a firearm.
The allegations that James was an aggressive father also come as he is accused of telling his son to ‘suck it up’ when he asked for mental health support.
These claims were bolstered at Jennifer’s trial in February, where jurors were also shown diary entries from Ethan where he wrote: ‘I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get any help.’
This was countered on Friday, as the jury also heard James had also told his son he could ‘always talk to him.’
Hopkins said James Crumbley told his son ‘you know you have people to talk to’, and mentioned to school staff that ‘they’ve talked’ about some of his struggles.
Much of Friday morning’s testimony centered on the morning of the shooting, when James and Jennifer Crumbley had been summoned to their son’s school due to the alarming homework, but then declined to take him home.
Hopkins said he became increasingly concerned by Ethan’s behavior in the lead up to the tragedy, culminating in disturbing drawings of shootings on his homework on the morning of the shooting.
However, he testified that he was particularly concerned over writing that Ethan left around drawings of dead bodies, including ‘the thoughts won’t stop… help me.’
After finding the homework, Hopkins added that Ethan declared in a private meeting that he ‘can see why (the homework) looks bad, but I’m not going to do anything.’
Monday’s trial saw the jury shown a number of emails exchanged by teachers about the student, including one where they said he was going through a ‘tough time’ and to keep an extra eye on his behavior.
Monday’s trial saw the jury shown a number of emails exchanged by teachers about Ethan, including one where they said he was going through a ‘tough time’ and to keep an extra eye on his behavior
At Jennifer’s trial in February, jurors were also shown diary entries from Ethan where he wrote: ‘I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get any help’
Ethan Crumbley (seen in his booking mugshot) had allegedly been told by his father to ‘suck it up’ when he pleaded for mental health support before opening fire in November 2021
The counselor said they were initially concerned by Ethan searching firearms and ammunition online during class days before, but admitted that it didn’t seem especially concerning and wasn’t out of the ordinary for other students.
Ethan’s behavior then escalated to the morning of the shooting, where he had made the drawings of shootings on his schoolwork. Unbeknownst to others, Ethan had also secretly stashed his handgun bought by his father in his backpack.
He said James and Jennifer were both called into school that morning after Hopkins said the drawings ‘led me to believe he would hurt himself.’
To justify the drawings, Hopkins said Ethan claimed they were depicting a video game, and was practicing as he had ambitions to ‘go into video game design’ – but Hopkins added that he was not convinced by this due to the graphic nature of the drawings.
‘They didn’t look like they were from a video game,’ he said.
The counselor testified that Ethan had told him he was going through a tough time at home prior to the shooting, including that his dog and a family relative had died recently, and was struggling with school during Covid lockdowns.
‘I could see his sadness,’ Hopkins added.
The school’s Dean of Students, Nicholas Ejak, also took the stand on Friday, where he insisted that officials had no reason to suspect the horror that would unfold on the day of the shooting when they called in Ethan’s parents that morning.
Ethan’s mother Jennifer Crumbley (pictured testifying in her own trial on February 1)
James Crumbley breaks down in tears as jurors hear details of his son’s school shooting on the first day of his trial on Thursday
James is accused of failing to appropriately secure the gun at home alongside ignoring his son’s signs of mental distress.
On Friday, the court heard how once word of an active shooter was out, he drove to a parking lot used as a reunification center for parents and kids, and desperately called his son, not knowing that he was already in police custody.
James Crumbley then called his wife, Jennifer, and then drove home and called 911.
He said he ‘immediately raced home’ when he learned about the shooting and ‘found the gun missing.’
‘I called you guys right away to let you know,’ James Crumbley said of a 911 call.
The gun, a Sig Sauer 9mm, was intended to be locked with a cable lock given to James when he bought the gun, which was still in its package from when it was purchased days before.
As the trial began on Thursday, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said James had his access to phone and electronic communications restricted because he allegedly made threatening statements from jail.
The sheriff’s office told WJBK that he is now limited to conversations with his lawyer, but did not elaborate on who received the alleged threatening statements or what the nature of them was.
On Friday, James broke down in tears as footage of the shooting was shown during testimony from Ethan’s assistant principal Kristy Gibson-Marshall.
She recalled seeing Ethan in the hallway with the firearm and looking him in the eyes, before she saw one of his victims on the ground.
‘As he walked by I asked him if he was OK, what was going on,’ Gibson-Marshall said. ‘He looked away from me, and I knew for sure he was the shooter because he would’ve talked to me if he were not.’
James appeared to dab tears from his eyes as the assistant principal narrated the footage of Ethan moving through the halls of the school.