Oxford rejects offer to review high school shooting: Michigan AG
DETROIT – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said late Monday that Oxford school officials had refused Her offer to lead an independent review The truth led to the November 30 shooting that left four students dead.
She is not happy with this decision.
“We’ve heard that Oxford School District has indicated that it wants a third party to review the policies and protocols in place and indeed the events leading up to the November 30 action and those what happened in the course of events. So I suggested my department,” Nessel told CNN host Don Lemon.
“I thought, ‘What better agency to conduct a special review than the Michigan Department of Justice?’ Just a short while ago we learned that the school district had turned down our offer and they said it would go with a private security firm to conduct an internal review.”
On Sunday, Nessel, the state’s top law enforcement official, offered to use his team to investigate the shooting that left four students dead and seven injured.
“I’m really disappointed,” Nessel said on CNN.
She said she hopes “the school district is as concerned with the safety of their students as they are in protecting themselves from civil liability.”
Attorneys for the attorney general will continue to assist the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department and the Oakland County Prosecutor “in any way we can,” Nessel said.
“We’re going to talk to the community,” she said. “We’ll talk to parents and students at Oxford and see what they’d like to see happen. I’m sure they’ll reveal their feelings about turning down our offer.”
The damage has just begun:In just 5 minutes, a gunman turned an ordinary day at Oxford High School into a nightmare
‘Murder intent’:A Visual Timeline of the Deadly Oxford High School Shooting
The issue is what the school knew prior to the shooting and whether school officials were taking reasonable action to stop the violence. Nessel reveals new information about threats in schools and teacher safety. One teacher, among the victims of the Oxford shooting, survived.
“I have been made aware of the fact that teachers across the state today are receiving death threats as a result of people getting upset about what they perceive as action or inaction happening at Oxford. on November 30,” Nessel told CNN.
“Our educators protect us, protect our kids who go to school every day. But have there been mistakes in Oxford over the course of this event? I think that’s it. is part of what the investigation will uncover,” she added.
Nessel said families in the Oxford community will be heard.
“But, again, if the school district is really looking for transparency and they really want to make sure that everything they’ve done, and everything they continue to do, is in the best interest of their students. , which is something that people are very interested in right now, then I hope they will want to cooperate with the state investigation,” Nessel said.
On Saturday, Oxford Superintendent Tim Throne announced that the district plans to hire an outside investigator to look into its actions.
Nessel made an offer to support school on Sunday.
Nessel said the state Attorney General’s Office is the best place to do that review, because it has both civil and criminal attorneys and investigators.
That means the attorney general can not only look at whether any criminal law has been violated, but also whether there is a civil violation. Her office also has experience reviewing policies and procedures to make sure all are followed and that the policies in place are the best plan.
Contributing: David Jesse, Detroit Free Press
According to Phoebe Wall on Twitter@phoebesaid