Father of school shooter who killed four guilty of manslaughter after purchasing gun used in attack

The father of a US school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, a second conviction against the teenager's parents who were accused of failing to secure a gun at home and doing nothing to address acute signs of mental health issues.

The jury verdict on Thursday means James Crumbley has joined Jennifer Crumbley as a cause of the killing of four students at Oxford High School, Michigan in 2021.

They had separate trials as the first US parents to be charged in a mass school shooting committed by their child.

Ms Crumbley, 45, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in February.

On the afternoon of November 30, 2021, Ethan Crumbley, now 17, was at school when he pulled the gun from his backpack and shot ten students and a teacher, killing four of his peers.

The teenager pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism and is currently serving a life sentence.

Across the trial the court heard the school was concerned about a drawing of a gun, bullet and wounded man, accompanied by desperate phrases, on a piece of his work.

But despite a brief meeting with teachers, Mr and Ms Crumbley declined to take Ethan home.

A counselor, concerned about suicidal ideations, told them to seek help for the boy within 48 hours.

He said Mr Crumbley showed empathy toward his son during the meeting about the drawing but took no additional action.

Four days before the drawing, Mr Crumbley had purchased a handgun, the same as which his son drew on his homework and which he later used at the school.

Investigators found an empty gun case and empty ammunition box on the parents’ bed. A cable that could have locked the gun was still in a package, unopened.

Ethan told a judge that the gun was not locked when he stuffed it in his backpack.

Mr Crumbley's lawyers tried to emphasise to jurors that he did not consent to any gun access by his son.

“James Crumbley is not on trial for what his son did,” prosecutors said, “James Crumbley is on trial for what he did and for what he didn’t do.”

After the verdict, defence attorney Mariell Lehman said Mr Crumbley “obviously feels terrible” about what happened at the school.

Both Mr and Ms Crumbley face a possible minimum sentence of as much as 10 years in prison when they return to court in April.

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