The father of a teenagerwho shot and killed four of his classmates at a high school near Detroit, USA, found guilty of manslaughter because he and his wife ethey gave their son the gun and ignored the warning signs about his mental health.

After about a day of deliberations, the 12 jurors announced their verdict: 47-year-old James Crumbley was found guilty of the November 2021 massacre of his son Ethanaged 15 at the time, at Oxford High School near Detroit, Michigan. James Crumbley was charged with four counts of negligent homicide, as were the victims of the massacre.

The sentencing of James and his wife, Jennifer, who has also been found guilty of manslaughter in the same case, will be announced on April 9. They face up to 15 years in prison.

Their son Ethan used a semi-automatic weapon to kill four of his classmates, two boys and two girls aged 14 to 17, while injuring six other students and a teacher. He pleaded guilty in October 2022, was tried as an adult, and in December was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Prosecutor Karen MacDonald explained during the trial that James Crumbley repeatedly ignored signs of his son’s troubled mental health, failed to get him the help he needed and failed to keep the gun in a safe place in the family home.

MacDonald also presented jurors with text messages Ethan had sent to a friend and excerpts from his diary in the months before the massacre, in which the young man said he needed medical attention and was hearing voices, but worried his parents “they’ll be pissed” if he tells them.

According to a text he sent to a friend, Ethan asked his father to take him to the doctor, but he “gave me some pills and told me to be patient.”

Gift

During the trial, Jennifer Crumbley testified that her husband bought Ethan a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol as a gift four days before the massacre. She herself took him the next day to practice shooting.

On the day of the massacre a teacher found drawings of Ethan showing a gun, a bullet and a figure of a man covered in blood next to the phrases “blood everywhere”, “my life is worthless” and “the thoughts won’t stop – help me”.

The school called Crumbley’s parents that morning to inform them that their son needed psychological support and asked them to take him home. But the couple refused and did not search his bag or ask him about the gun, the prosecutor noted.

Ethan returned to his classroom and shortly after went to the bathroom where he came out holding the gun and started shooting.

This is the first time that murder charges have been brought against the parents of a child perpetrator of a massacre.

Gun safety experts said they hope the Crumbleys’ trial will spur parents to take action and be more careful about keeping guns in their homes.

About 75% of school shooters found the weapons they used in their attacks at homeaccording to government research.