“DETROIT — James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the teen charged in the Oxford High School shooting were located and arrested early Saturday in Detroit, a little more than two hours after a citizen saw their vehicle and called police.
‘Yes, they are both in custody and will be on the way to the Oakland County Jail soon,’ said Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe. ‘Kudos to Detroit PD and all the other agencies that assisted.’
Authorities had been searching for the Crumbleys since about noon Friday after they were charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting deaths at the high school in Michigan. Their son, Ethan Crumbley, 15, is accused of fatally shooting four students and injuring seven others at the suburban Detroit high school on Tuesday.
The Crumbley parents did not show for their arraignment Friday afternoon in Rochester Hills, Michigan. The U.S. Marshals Service issued ‘Wanted’ posters and offered a reward for information leading to their arrests….
During a hearing that started around noon, a lieutenant with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said the parents were not in custody. The Oakland County Fugitive Team, along with several agencies, were searching for the couple as of Friday evening….
But the family's lawyers said the couple was not fleeing from authorities and were returning to the area after having left town briefly amid the commotion surrounding tragedy.
‘The Crumbleys left town on the night of the tragic shooting for their own safety. They are returning to the area to be arraigned,’ their lawyers Smith and Mariell Lehman said.
The gun had been stored in an unlocked drawer in their house, and Crumbley's parents did not ask where it was when they were called to the school the day of the shooting for a disturbing drawing their son made of a firearm, McDonald said at a news conference Friday.
Ethan Crumbley had posted about the firearm online and researched ammunition while at school, McDonald said the investigation revealed. He was also allowed to return to class on the day of the shooting after the meeting with his parents, she said.
‘The facts of this case are so egregious,’ McDonald said.
Crumbley was charged Wednesday as an adult with murder, terrorism and other crimes in what investigators described as a methodical and deliberate massacre.
When asked whether her office was looking into charges for any school officials, McDonald said the investigation was ongoing.
‘While the shooter was the one who entered the high school and pulled the trigger, there are other individuals who contributed to the events on Nov. 30, and it's my intention to hold them accountable as well,’ she said.
Here's what we know Friday:
Prosecutor: Gun was 'Christmas present'
At a news conference Friday, McDonald laid out how Ethan Crumbley got the weapon other warning signs in the days leading up to the shooting.
McDonald said Ethan Crumbley was there when his father bought the 9mm Sig Sauer SP 2022 on Nov. 26. The same day, the younger Crumbley posted photos of the weapon online, calling it his ‘new beauty.’ His mom said in a post the following day, ‘Mom and son day testing out his new Christmas present,’ McDonald said….
Suspect's drawing prompted worries on day of shooting
The 15-year-old suspect was also caught looking up ammunition online while at school before the shooting. McDonald said school officials contacted his mother about the online search, leaving a voicemail and email, but received no response. Crumbley's mother instead texted him the same day, ‘LOL I'm not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught,’ McDonald said.
Hours before the shooting, Crumbley was found with a disturbing drawing that included a a firearm and someone who appeared to be bleeding, McDonald said.
A teacher took a photo of the drawing, and Crumbley's parents were immediately contacted. When the drawing was brought to a school counselor with Crumbley and his parents present, Crumbley had altered it, McDonald said.
A counselor told the parents their son needed to get counseling, but Crumbley was able to return to class. His parents did not ask him about the firearm at that time nor did they search his backpack, McDonald said.
‘Of course, he shouldn't have gone back to that classroom,’ McDonald added.
After reports of the shooting at the school, Jennifer Crumbley texted her son, ‘Ethan don't do it,’ McDonald said. James Crumbley drove home to search for the firearm and called 911 to report it missing, saying he believed his son was the shooter, McDonald said.
‘I'm angry as a mother. I'm angry as the prosecutor. I'm angry as a person that lives in this county. I'm angry. There were a lot of things that could have been so simple to prevent,’ McDonald said.
Slew of copycat threats across metro Detroit trouble schools, parents
Copycat threats circulated on social media and districts canceled classes Thursday out of caution for students' safety.
A 17-year-old student in Southfield, about 30 miles from Oxford High School, was arrested Thursday with a semi-automatic pistol. A bomb threat was also made at South Lake High School, about 45 miles from Oxford, and prompted a police investigation.” Read more at USA Today
An unclassified U.S. intelligence document on Russian military movement. (Obtained by The Washington Post
“As tensions mount between Washington and Moscow over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, U.S. intelligence has found the Kremlin is planning a multi-front offensive as soon as early next year involving up to 175,000 troops, according to U.S. officials and an intelligence document obtained by The Washington Post.
The Kremlin has been moving troops toward the border with Ukraine while demanding Washington guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO and that the alliance will refrain from certain military activities in and around Ukrainian territory. The crisis has provoked fears of a renewed war on European soil and comes ahead of a planned virtual meeting next week between President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
‘The Russian plans call for a military offensive against Ukraine as soon as early 2022 with a scale of forces twice what we saw this past spring during Russia’s snap exercise near Ukraine’s borders,’ said an administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. ‘The plans involve extensive movement of 100 battalion tactical groups with an estimated 175,000 personnel, along with armor, artillery and equipment.’” Read more at Washington Post
“A new study provides a glimpse into the future of Western U.S. snow and the picture is far from rosy: In about 35 to 60 years, mountainous states are projected to be nearly snowless for years at a time if greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked and climate change does not slow.
Due to rising temperatures, the region has already lost 20 percent of its snowpack since the 1950s. That’s enough water to fill Lake Mead, the nation’s largest human-made reservoir. It stands to lose another half, and possibly more, later this century, from the Rockies to the Sierra Nevada and into the Cascades of the Pacific Northwest, according to a literature synthesis conducted in the study leveraging dozens of peer-reviewed climate model projections.
The current snow situation in the West offers a preview of what the future may hold. Snow water equivalent, or the liquid water from snowpack, is much lower than normal in much of the Western United States. Snow cover across the nation is only at 6 percent — the lowest since records began in 2003.” Read more at Washington Post
“U.S. wages continue to rise at a brisk pace in November, particularly in sectors with the most acute labor shortages, Friday’s jobs report showed.
Average hourly earnings were 4.8% higher in November compared with a year ago for all private industries, the Labor Department said in its November employment report that also showed payrolls increasing by 210,000 and the unemployment rate dropping to 4.2%.
But wages were 13.7% higher for leisure and hospitality and 8.9% higher for transportation and warehousing, two of the sectors most affected by labor shortages and consumer-behavior shifts as the economy rebounds from the pandemic.
Initial but inconclusive signs also suggest that wage growth may be moderating, which could ease inflationary pressures in the coming months because wages are such a big cost in the economy.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“WASHINGTON — President Biden said Friday that his hoarse voice and cough were the result of germy kisses from his toddler grandson, not the coronavirus, a development that pushed administration officials to release a doctor’s note certifying that Mr. Biden had a cold.” Read more at New York Times
“The partisan investigation into Wisconsin’s 2020 election results has taken an aggressive turn of late, with special counsel Michael Gableman, a former state Supreme Court justice hired by Republican members of the state legislature, threatening to jail the mayors of Green Bay and Madison.
That’s not all: In recent weeks, the sheriff in Racine County has recommended that the majority of the Wisconsin Election Commission face felony charges, which Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said were ‘probably’ justified. On Wednesday, Gableman revealed that his team of taxpayer funded investigators included a county GOP official who filed multiple lawsuits to overturn the 2020 election results.” Read more at Talking Points Memo
“The first week of testimony in Ghislaine Maxwell’s child-sex trafficking trial has provided an extensive look into Jeffrey Epstein’s life of luxury, from jaw-dropping details on residences that rival royals’ estates, to his jet setting schedule. So curated was Epstein’s ostentation, he even demanded theater-quality audio for his workout music.
The emergence of this information suggests that this trial might reveal previously unknown details about Epstein’s world, despite the disgraced financier’s suicide. At the very least, trial proceedings might contextualize how Epstein’s display of wealth so impressed people that it intimidated them.
Maxwell, 59 and the daughter of the deceased British press baron Robert Maxwell, was arrested in July 2020 at a sprawling New Hampshire estate in relation to Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor girls as young as 14.
Epstein, a convicted sex offender whose high-profile acquaintances included Britain’s Prince Andrew and former US presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, killed himself at a New York City jail in August 2019, while he was jailed pending his own sex-trafficking trial.
In a week of testimony, multiple witnesses spoke of the immense wealth that Epstein displayed and luxury that he enjoyed in properties that spanned the globe – as well as the private jet on which he traveled between them. Their testimony suggested too how that display of riches attracted the powerful social set in which he moved – as well as enabled him to prey on his victims.
Epstein’s longtime pilot, Lawrence Paul Visoski Jr, gave a thorough accounting of the late financier’s expansive homes in New Mexico, Palm Beach, New York City, US Virgin Islands and Paris. Epstein’s private island, Little St James, was encircled by topaz-blue waters, and boasted unimaginable amenities: a library, a gym and a helipad, as well as multiple large swimming pools.” Read more at The Guardian
““Flash mobs” swarm through a Nordstrom in Northern California and two Best Buy stores in Minnesota, running out with armfuls of merchandise. Five thieves steal $20,000 in products from an Ulta Beauty store in Pennsylvania in just 40 seconds. A security guard is fatally shot in Oakland, Calif., while working with a local television news crew reporting about a recent retail robbery by a group of thieves.
Theft is an ever-present issue for retailers. As much as $68.9 billion of products were stolen from retailers in 2019, according to one industry group. But it has become more visible, brazen, and violent in recent months, forcing an industry already buffeted by pandemic lockdowns and fights over mask requirements to deal with a new problem.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Veteran Philippine journalist Maria Ressa will be permitted to travel to Norway to receive her Nobel Peace Prize at an official Dec. 10 ceremony after a Philippine Court of Appeals ruling.
Ressa, CEO of Manila-based news outlet Rappler, faces several legal charges, which supporters say are politically motivated, and had to request permission to travel internationally from several Philippine courts.” Read more at Boston Globe
“LONDON — In the United States, when metal detectors hit it big, it is usually by finding familiar riches: lost engagement rings, expensive jewelry or coins of untold value. In Britain, the biggest successes often involve discoveries of treasures from ancient eras — like the 3,000-year-old ax that a teenager unearthed in eastern England in September.
The 13-year-old, Milly Hardwick, said that she, her father and her grandfather had been out in a field with metal detectors for several hours on a Sunday in Royston, England, and had not found a single item. Then, just after a lunch of sandwiches and cookies, they tried a different part of the field, where an organized dig was taking place. After about 20 minutes of searching, Milly said she heard the high-pitched beeping noise — ‘a lovely-sounding signal’ — that indicates a possible find.
Her father rushed over and started digging. About 10 minutes later, he pulled out an item that resembled part of an ax, he said.
‘I was just shocked,’ Milly said. ‘We were just laughing our heads off.’
Milly, her father, and her grandfather started dancing out of excitement, she said. They kept digging and found a hoard of other artifacts, including socketed ax heads, winged ax heads, cake ingots, and blade fragments made of bronze. Milly’s findings were reported last month by The Searcher, a magazine about metal detecting.
Lorna Dupré, the chair of the Cambridgeshire County Council’s environment committee, said the council confirmed that 200 items, believed to be from the Bronze Age, were found. Milly and her father and grandfather found about 65 items in one hoard. Archaeologists later found a second hoard 8 feet away.
The Bronze Age in Britain lasted from 2,300 B.C. to 800 B.C., during a period referred to as prehistoric England, before there were written records, according to English Heritage, a charity that manages historic monuments, buildings and places. (The circular earthwork of Stonehenge, for comparison, was built around 3,000 B.C., and its central stone settings were created around 2,500 B.C.) Around the start of the Bronze Age, the first metal weapons and jewelry began to arrive in Britain, and people were buried with these items in individual graves.” Read more at Boston Globe
“A plumber doing work at Pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, discovered hundreds of envelopes containing checks and cash hidden in a wall behind a toilet.
The plumber, who has only been identified as ‘Justin,’ called into a Houston morning radio show on Thursday after the show encouraged listeners to tell stories about finding valuable items, according to multiple reports.
Justin told 100.3 The Bull's radio show that, as he was working at the Texas church on Nov. 10, ‘There was a loose toilet in the wall, and we removed the tile.’
‘We went to go remove the toilet, and I moved some insulation away and about 500 envelopes fell out of the wall,’ he added. The man contacted a maintenance supervisor and turned in the envelopes of cash and checks.
The Houston Police Department confirmed in a statement on Friday that officers were called to the church last month after ‘church members stated that during a renovation project, a large amount of money – including cash, checks and money orders – was found inside a wall.’
The discovery comes after hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen from Lakewood Church's safe in 2014, including $200,000 in cash and $400,000 in checks, according to multiple reports.
Houston police confirmed in the Friday statement that ‘evidence from the recovered checks suggests this November case is connected to’ the 2014 reported theft. The police investigation is ongoing.” Read more at USA Today
“Just before Thanksgiving, cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point did something that the three-star general in charge of the school officially ordered them not to do: They stole a Naval Academy goat mascot.
The general said afterward that the prank went against West Point’s core values and that he was disappointed by the breach of trust. Properly chastised, the academy’s cadets had time to reflect on the matter over the holiday.
Then last weekend, cadets stole a goat again.
Two goats, actually.
The animals are the latest in the line of 37 different bucks, stretching back more than a century, that have served as Naval Academy mascots. All have been named Bill. And among a certain set of West Point cadets and alumni, stealing Bill from one of the Navy’s secret pasturing locations has become the ultimate mission impossible. Cadets have done it least 12 times.
Army leaders have forbidden the heists, publicly at least, for decades, but the pranks have continued, reflecting an enduring contradiction in the academy’s mission: a requirement to produce disciplined officers who follow orders and a need to cultivate risk-takers with the boldness and creativity required to lead in battle.
Two goats, Bill No. 36 and Bill No. 37, now share official mascot duties. On Saturday night, a group of cadets dressed in black crept into the backyard of a Navy alumnus near Annapolis, Maryland, where the goats are kept, grabbed the two active-duty goats, clipped on their leads and slipped away undetected. The goats were found Sunday morning on the West Point parade ground, tethered to the general’s reviewing stand. They were returned to the Naval Academy unharmed.
West Point leaders declined to comment about the incident. A member of the academy staff said the leadership wanted to keep the incident quiet, even among the student body, to discourage future raids. They are reviewing security footage to try to identify the culprits, but so far, no luck, the staff member said.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Is Superman Circumcised?, a study of the superhero’s Jewish influences, has resoundingly won the competition to be named ‘oddest book title of the year’.
The Diagram prize, which is run by The Bookseller magazine and voted for by the public, pitted six titles against each other this year, from Curves for the Mathematically Curious to Hats: A Very Unnatural History. Despite competition from second-placed The Life Cycle of Russian Things: From Fish Guts to Fabergé, Is Superman Circumcised? took 51% of the public vote to win the award. More than 11,000 people cast a vote in this year’s competition.
The title, which follows in the footsteps of former winners including How to Avoid Huge Ships and The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories, sees author Roy Schwartz explore the creation of the ‘Mensch of Steel’ by Jewish immigrants Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Schwartz argues that Superman’s origin story is based ‘on Moses, his strength on Samson, his mission on the golem, and his nebbish secret identity on themselves’, and that Krypton’s society is based on Jewish culture.
The Bookseller’s managing editor Tom Tivnan said: ‘Following on from 2019’s champ, The Dirt Hole and its Variations, and 2020’s A Dog Pissing at the Edge of a Path: Animal Metaphors in Eastern Indonesian Society we’ve seen once again that Diagram voters are pulled to titles that are just wee bit naughty.’” Read more at The Guardian
“Stu Rasmussen, who in 2008 became what is believed to be the first openly transgender mayor in America, died on Nov. 17 at his home in Silverton, Ore., where he had served in various elected offices for the better part of 30 years. Mr. Rasmussen, who identified as a woman but typically used masculine pronouns, was 73.
His wife, Victoria Sage, said the cause was prostate cancer.
Silverton, an agricultural community with about 9,200 residents and a jewel box of a downtown, sits about an hour south of Portland and a half hour east of Salem, the state capital. Despite an influx of people that tripled the population since Mr. Rasmussen was young, it was hardly the sort of place one might expect to find such a pathbreaking politician.
But Mr. Rasmussen defied many conventions, gender being just one of them. He belonged to both the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association. He was socially progressive but fiscally conservative, and he butted heads with growth-oriented city leaders when he blocked new subdivisions or upgrades to local infrastructure.” Read more at New York Times