OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A fourth teenager died on Wednesday after a shot at a Michigan high school where a 15-year-old student opened fire “with intent to kill,” police said.
Four teenagers were killed and seven injured after a shooting occurred Tuesday afternoon at Oxford High School in Oakland County, about 45 minutes northwest of Detroit. One suspect was detained at the scene.
“He did it with the intention of killing people. He frequently shoots people at close range in the head or chest,” said Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on CNN on Wednesday morning. “It’s chilling. It’s purely a cold-blooded killer. ”
Bouchard said the suspect shot through the barricaded classroom doors and tried to break the door.
The students described a chaotic scene in which a voice passed through the intercom to announce an active shooter and they didn’t know if it was a drill. Then the teachers rushed in to lock and barricade the doors and cover the windows. Students shed tears and texted loved ones.
Abbey Hodder, a 15-year-old sophomore, was taking a chemistry class when she thought she heard glass breaking.
“My teacher had run out and was running all over the place,” she said, describing how she and her classmates watched their active shooting training. “The next thing I knew I saw him pushing the table. It was part of the school process to barricade, so we all know, barrier, barricade down. And all of us. start pushing the table.”
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a statement Her office is looking into the case and intends to “promptly bring appropriate charges.”
Bouchard said The suspect’s father bought the gun on Friday and the suspect posted a picture of the gun online a few days before the shooting happened.
Secretary of State Michael McCabe acknowledged there were rumors about the warning signs and said they were being investigated. At least one parent told the Associated Press that her son was not attending school out of fear that something might happen.
Robin Redding, who has a son in grade 12, told the AP news agency: “He didn’t go to school today. “He just said, ‘Mom, I don’t feel comfortable. None of the kids we went to school with are going to school today.”
Pastors and religious leaders holding vigils on Tuesday evenings. Pastor Jesse Holt told a crowd of more than 200 at a community church: “All of Oxford is hurt.
More on Tuesday’s shooting:At least 3 students dead, 8 injured in Michigan high school shooting
What happened at Oxford High School?
At 12:51 pm, The police coordinator received a 911 call for an active shooter at Oxford High School. More than 100 calls have finally arrived.
Within about five minutes of the first call, the Oakland County sheriff’s deputies arrested a suspect, McCabe said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Bouchard said Wednesday investigators recovered 30 shell casings and believe the suspect fired 30 rounds. Surveillance video from the school showed the suspect coming out of the bathroom with a pistol, Bouchard said.
McCabe said the school was doing “everything right” and giving people shelter. Both doors were barricaded and the quick action of first responders “saved lives,” Bouchard said.
Hodder said she and her classmates lined up along a wall and grabbed something to throw, also as part of their active shooting training. But not long after, her teacher told them to jump out the window and run away.
Ashley Bales, a senior, didn’t realize the intercom call was real until she received a text from her sister. She and her classmates ran outside and down a slippery hill towards Meijer while filming. She got hit in the face in front of everyone’s crush, but it’s okay.
“It’s hard for me because my sister is still in school,” she said.
SWAT, more than 60 ambulances, an aviation unit and FBI agents were on the scene Tuesday afternoon.
Finally, students with transportation were allowed to leave. A nearby Meijer store has closed and is serving as a reunion site for parents and students.
Brandi Lawrey says she is talking on the phone with her daughter, Makenzie, 17, as she fled the building while police officers guided her out. Lawrey said Makenzie’s class fenced off the front door of the house with furniture and then crammed into a far corner before they left.
“All the words in her writing and the fear in her voice just kept running through my mind,” Brandi Lawrey said Wednesday morning. “Makenzie is devastated and heartbroken, she’s scared.”
Who was killed, injured in the shooting in Oxford?
Four people were killed, the sheriff’s office said: Tate Myre, 16 years old; Hana St. Juliana, 14 years old; Madisyn Baldwin, 17 years old; and Justin Shilling, 15 years old.
Mr Bouchard said Myre died in a patrol vehicle when a co-pilot was taken to hospital. Police said Shilling died Wednesday at a local hospital.
Seven people were injured, including a teacher. Bouchard said most of the remaining shooting victims were stable, but some remained in critical condition. Earlier, police said that a 14-year-old girl was placed on a ventilator after surgery and the 47-year-old teacher was discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment.
The ‘pandemic’ of gun violence in the US:Oxford High School in Michigan is the 28th shooting range of 2021
A Twitter post for the Oakland High School team said Myre has been a soccer player since his freshman year and is also an honors student. “Tate was a wonderful young man with a bright future and loved by all. You will miss him, Tate,” the tweet read.
“He’s a fantastic footballer with the brightest future and an even better young man off the pitch as he was on it,” he said. another tweet read.
The school’s girls’ basketball team tweeted that St. Juliana is a dedicated member of the show. “We will never forget your kind heart, goofy personality and passion for the game. … This season, we play for you Hana”, post read.
What do we know about the Oxford High School shooting suspect?
Police detained a 15-year-old sophomore from Oxford Village at the scene. McCabe said the teens were in class during the day. Bouchard declined to name the suspect because he is a minor.
The teenager had a handgun when one deputy assigned to the school and another spotted him walking down the hallway with a 9mm handgun.He still has seven live rounds left in his magazine and one in his chamber, Bouchard said Wednesday.
“He didn’t give us any resistance when he was arrested,” McCabe said. “The whole thing lasted five minutes.”
The suspect invoked the right not to speak to investigators and asked for an attorney. David Coulter, County Executive, said Tuesday night.
More from the Oxford community:The town holds a ceremony to pray for peace after the Michigan high school shooting
Officials searched the suspect’s home and his parents hired an attorney. Bouchard said police have recovered what are believed to be some of his works from his home and are starting to look into them.
Police are not aware of any disciplinary issues or prior clashes with law enforcement the suspect has had. McCabe has repeatedly stressed his office was unaware of any credible threats of violence prior to the shooting.
Where did the gun come from and how did you get into Oxford High?
The teenager’s father bought gun four days before the shooting on friday, Bouchard said. The weapon was a 9mm Sig Sauer SP 2022 pistol and the suspect had at least two 15-round magazines.
The suspect’s father is believed to have purchased a third copy of the magazine that has yet to be located, but Bouchard said he suspects it will be found at the school.
The school’s superintendent Tim Throne said Oxford High does not have metal detectors. Authorities know how the student got in, McCabe added, but he did not elaborate.
McCabe said the district and superintendent work hard to keep the school’s 1,800 students safe, highlighting the fact that a deputy was assigned to the school and was involved in the arrest of the suspect.
“Not all schools have metal detectors; they have an entrance. … Should every school and every building have a metal detector? You know, it’s expensive, but I can’t answer that question, I don’t know,” he said.
Governor Whitmer: ‘Unthinkable tragedy’
Governor Gretchen Whitmer at a news conference Tuesday night at the school called it “an unimaginable tragedy” and that it is every parent’s worst nightmare.
She asked Michiganders for community support and called the shooting a unique American problem that needs to be addressed.
“My heart is broken for the students, teachers, staff and families of Oxford High School,” she said on Twitter. “The death of many students and the shooting of others, including a teacher, is appalling. My heart is with the parents who took their children and with the entire Oxford community.”
President Joe Biden also addressed the shooting while speaking during a visit to Minnesota on Tuesday.
“My heart goes out to the families who are suffering the unimaginable pain of losing a loved one,” he said.
“You have to know that the entire community must be in a state of shock right now.”
How many school shootings have happened this year?
Had 28 school shootings This year, according to Education Week, which tracks school shootings with any gun-related injuries or deaths.
Of those, 20 have occurred since August when many students returned to face-to-face classes for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. There are 10 recorded mass shootings in 2020.
Additionally, the incident is the 651st in 2021 in which at least four people have been shot, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Contributing: Khalil AlHajal, Elisha Anderson, Liz Shepard, David Jesse and Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press; Michael Braun, Fort Myers News-Press; Ryan Miller, USA TODAY
