Ethan Crumbley, the alleged Michigan High School shooter went to school with plans of killing "as many students as he could" and even recorded videos on his cellphone about murdering them and wrote about it in a journal, police said on Thursday after finding evidence in his backpack. During investigation, cops found at least two videos on Crmbley's phone that prove that he had planned the attack in advance.
Crumbley, 15, opened fire at Oxford High School on Tuesday that killed four and left another seven injured. He has now been charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of terrorism causing death, among other charges.
Planned Attack
Investigators revealed on Thursday that on the eve of the killings, Crumbley recorded a video wherein he said that he was planning to launch an attack in his school the next day. The teen echoed similar sentiments in a journal found in his backpack. This has assured cops that the entire attack was well planned.
In the video, Crumbley keeps talking about his plans of killing his classmates in Oxford High School, Oakland County Sheriff's Lt. Tim Willis said. Willis didn't divulge much about the videos given that they are still part of the investigation.
However, Crumbley only recorded the videos but didn't post them online and there was no advance warning, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. The videos was discovered after the shooting.
According to prosecutor Karen McDonald, Crumbley said in the videos that wanted to murder "as many students as he could." He also mentioned that in a memo in a journal found alongside the videos in his backpack.
Motive Still Unclear
Crumbley doesn't give a reason in any of the videos or even in the journal why he wanted to shoot the students. His motive still remains unclear. Initially, other students at the school said he was being bullied but the police but his older brother and prosecutors say there is no evidence of that.
Following Crumbley's arrest, prosecutors watched the surveillance video footage of the shooting, which they described as "horrific".
"What's depicted on that video, honestly, judge, I don't have the words to describe how horrific that was," Assistant Prosecutor Marc Keast told a judge on Wednesday.
According to Keast, the disturbing video of the attack shows Crumbley entering a bathroom at the school with a backpack before he emerges with a gun. "At that point, he deliberately aimed the gun at students and began firing at students. After students started running he continued down the hallway pointing the gun and firing (at them) and firing in classrooms and at students who were unable to escape," said Keast
"He methodically and deliberately walked down a hallway, aiming the firearm at students and firing. After children started running away from the defendant, he continued down the hallway again at a deliberate and methodical pace, pointing and aiming inside classrooms and at students who hadn't had the opportunity to escape," he added.
Crumbley has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of terrorism. He is being held as an adult. He faces life in prison on both the terrorism and murder counts. The teen pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday.
"It's not a usual, a typical charge," McDonald said of terrorism causing death, adding that the four students who were killed and seven others who were shot are not the only victims.
