Status: 01.12.2021 1:28 a.m.
In the US state of Michigan, a 15-year-old killed three classmates at a school. The perpetrator was arrested. Previously there were rumors of threats against the high school.
A 15-year-old student shot and killed three classmates and injured eight other people in his Michigan high school. The perpetrator was arrested by the police shortly afterwards. The authorities said the motive for the crime at Oxford High School in Oxford Township was not known.
The community with around 22,000 inhabitants is located about 50 kilometers north of Detroit. The officers caught the shooter minutes after the shooting and arrested him, Oakland County Police Chief Mike McCabe said at a press conference. He still had the gun with him and was not injured. A semi-automatic weapon and several magazines were seized from the perpetrator.
The 15-year-old has apparently never been noticed by the police
Two of the injured would be operated on and the other six were in stable condition, McCabe said. The fatalities are a 16-year-old boy and two girls aged twelve and 17. The school was cordoned off and some students were locked in classrooms while officers searched the building. Shortly after 2 p.m., a rescue helicopter landed in the school’s parking lot.
McCabe said investigators wanted to search social media posts for clues about a possible motive. According to his information, the arrested 15-year-old had never been noticed by the police.
Reports of threats against school
One mother said her 12th grader son failed to attend class on Tuesday after hearing about threats against the school. For this reason, other students would not have wanted to go to school either.
The school administration posted two letters from parents on the school’s website earlier this month in response to rumors of threats following a bizarre incident of vandalism. According to a letter from school principal Steve Wolf on Nov. 4, someone tossed a deer head from the school roof into a courtyard, painted several windows with red acrylic paint, and used the same paint on concrete near the school building.
Without going into the incident, a second letter was issued on November 12th stating that there had been no threats against the students or the building. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer offered condolences to the victims. “Gun violence is a public health crisis that kills people every day,” she said.