School bells were replaced by police sirens Tuesday after a shooting at Michigan’s Oxford High School left four students dead.
Six other students and a teacher were wounded by gunfire, and a 15-year-old suspect is in custody, authorities said.
The attack was the deadliest US school shooting since eight students and two teachers were slain in May 2018 at Texas’ Santa Fe High School, according to a CNN tally. There have been 48 shootings this year on K-12 campuses, 32 of them since August 1.
Here’s what we know about Tuesday’s mass shooting:
Deputies were dispatched to the school at 12:52 p.m. Tuesday, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said, noting that more than a hundred 911 calls were placed.
As police were swarming the campus, students and staff began barricading doors and hiding in classrooms.
Law enforcement officers quickly entered the building and had the suspect in custody within three minutes of their arrival, the sheriff said.
Once the suspect encountered the officers, he put his hands up and they took a gun from him before placing him in custody.
The weapon deputies said was used in the shooting, a 9MM Sig Sauer SP2022 semiautomatic pistol, was purchased by the suspect’s father on Friday, four days before the shootings at the school, Bouchard said.
Two 15-round magazines were found at the scene, and the gun had seven rounds of ammunition. Investigators recovered more than 30 shell casings, said the sheriff, who’d earlier said at least a dozen rounds were fired.
“We believe he fired at least 30 shots,” he said.
An Oakland County Sheriff’s Office deputy assigned to the school helped take the suspect into custody, Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe said.
Investigators believe there were no other weapons involved, and there’s no indication the suspect was wearing body armor.
No shots were fired by responding law enforcement and the suspect was not injured, McCabe said.
What we know about the victims
Investigators identified the victims who died as Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17. Myre died in a patrol car as a deputy was attempting to rush him to the hospital due to the “severity of his wounds.” Shilling died Wednesday morning.
Seven others — six students and a teacher — were shot. Two were in critical condition as of Wednesday morning.
Among the wounded was a 14-year-old girl who was on a ventilator following surgery. A 14-year-old boy also had a gunshot wound to the jaw and head, while the teacher who was shot has been discharged.
There were multiple other non-life-threatening injuries sustained by people as they rushed out of the school. Most were treated and released at a staging area, he said.
What we know about the suspect
The suspect, Ethan Crumbley, a sophomore at the school, is being held at Oakland County Children’s Village — a juvenile detention facility — and is on suicide watch where he is being checked on every 15 minutes.
No motive as of this time.
Michigan law prevents police from talking to a juvenile without parental permission, and the suspect’s parents have refused that permission and requested a lawyer.
What we know about the investigation
Investigators have a “tremendous amount of video footage” to review from cameras in the school.
A search warrant was executed at the suspect’s home Tuesday. Authorities seized a phone and are examining other seized items.
Authorities also are investigating pictures of a target and the weapon posted on social media by the suspect.
“We believe we have some writings that contain some of his thoughts,” adding he didn’t immediately know whether the writings reveal intent.
Video from the school shows the assailant was “shooting people at close range — oftentimes toward the head or chest,” Bouchard told CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday.
“It’s chilling. It’s absolutely cold-hearted, murderous,” he said.
The suspect could be charged as an adult, a decision that’s up to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office.