The trial of school shooter father James Crumbley continued Monday with testimony from a counselor about alarming red flags displayed before the 2021 Oxford High School massacre.
Taking the stand on the third day of the involuntary manslaughter trial, school counselor Shawn Hopkins testified they could ‘see the sadness’ inside Ethan Crumbley, shortly before he killed four classmates and wounded seven others.
He said he became increasingly concerned about Ethan’s behavior leading up to the tragedy, culminating in disturbing drawings of shootings on his homework the morning of the shooting.
The lessons took center stage last month when James’ wife Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of the same charges her estranged husband now faces, and she faces decades in prison when she is sentenced in April.
School counselor Shawn Hopkins (pictured) testified Monday that he ‘could see the sadness’ in Ethan Crumbley shortly before he opened fire on dozens of classmates
James Crumbley (seen on the third day of his trial on Monday) faces involuntary manslaughter charges for his son Ethan’s 2021 school shooting
Ethan Crumbley is now serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2021 Oxford High School mass shooting in which he killed four classmates and wounded seven others
On the morning of the school shooting, teachers became concerned after finding alarming drawings and writing on his homework, including drawings of gunshot victims around ‘the thoughts won’t stop… Help me’
Prosecutors allege that James and Jennifer both ignored Ethan’s cries for mental health before the shooting, with James also buying his son the gun used in the shooting four days prior.
At Jennifer’s trial in February, jurors were also shown diary entries from Ethan in which he wrote: ‘I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get help.’
On the morning of the shooting, James and Jennifer Crumbley had been called to their son’s school because of the alarming homework, but they refused to take him home.
Hopkins, the person who found the homework disturbing, testified that he was particularly concerned about writing Ethan left around drawings of dead bodies, including “the thoughts won’t stop . . . help me.”
After finding the homework, Hopkins added that Ethan stated 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 series of emails exchanged by teachers about the pupil, including one where they said he was going through a ‘tough time’ and to keep an extra eye on his behaviour.
The counselor said they were initially concerned that Ethan was browsing firearms and ammunition online during class days before, but admitted it did not seem particularly concerning and was not out of the ordinary for other students.
Ethan’s behavior then escalated to the morning of the shooting, where he had been making drawings of shootings for his school work. Unbeknownst to others, Ethan had also secretly hidden his gun bought by his father in his backpack.
He said James and Jennifer were both called to school that morning after Hopkins said the drawings ‘led me to believe he was going to harm himself’.
In Monday’s trial, the jury was shown a series 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
Ethan’s mother Jennifer Crumbley (pictured testifying at her own trial on February 1)
At Jennifer’s trial in February, jurors were also shown diary entries from Ethan in which he wrote: ‘I want help but my parents don’t listen to me so I can’t get help’
To justify the drawings, Hopkins said Ethan claimed they depicted a video game and was practicing as he had ambitions to ‘go into video game design’ – but Hopkins added he was not convinced of 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 his dog and a family relative having died recently and struggling with school during the Covid lockdowns.
“I could see his sadness,” the teacher added.
James is accused of failing to properly secure the gun at home while ignoring his son’s signs of mental illness.
On Friday, court heard how, once an active shooter was out, he drove to a parking lot used as a parent-child reunification center and called his son desperately, not knowing he was already in police custody.
James Crumbley then called his wife, Jennifer, then drove home and called 911.
He said he ‘immediately ran home’ when he heard about the shooting and ‘found the gun missing’.
“I called you guys right away to tell you,” James Crumbley said of a 911 call.
The gun, a Sig Sauer 9mm, was meant to be locked with a cable lock that was given to James when he bought the gun, which was still in the package from when it was purchased days before.
James Crumbley breaks down in tears as jurors hear details of his son’s school shooting on the first day of his trial Thursday
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 at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit
Justin Shilling, 17, (left) and Tate Myre, 16, (right) were also killed in the senseless shooting
When the trial began 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 said WJBK that he is now limited to conversations with his attorney, but has not elaborated 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 remembered seeing Ethan in the hallway with the firearm and looking him in the eye before seeing one of his victims on the ground.
“When he walked by, I asked him if he was okay, what was going on,” Gibson-Marshall said. ‘He looked away from me and I knew for sure he was the shooter because he would have spoken to me if he wasn’t.’
James appeared to be dabbing tears from his eyes as the assistant principal narrated the footage of Ethan moving through the halls of the school.