McCabe said the suspect’s parents visited their son where he’s being held and advised him not to talk to investigators,as is his right. Police must seek permission from a juvenile suspect’s parents or guardian to speak with them,he added.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald issued a statement saying her office expected to issue charges quickly and that an update would be given on Wednesday,US time.
Bouchard said the suspect had no prior run-ins with his department and he wasn’t aware of any disciplinary history at school.
“That’s part of our investigation to determine what happened prior to this event and if some signs were missed how were they missed and why,” he said.
US President Joe Biden,before delivering remarks at a community college in Rosemount,Minnesota,said:“As we learn the full details,my heart goes out to the families enduring the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one.”
The school was placed on lockdown after the attack,with some children sheltering in locked classrooms while officers searched the premises. They were later taken to a nearby grocery store to be picked up by their parents.
The district said in a statement that all of its schools would be closed for the rest of the week.
Isabel Flores,a 15-year-old ninth grader,told WJBK-TV that she and other students heard gunshots and saw another student bleeding from the face. They then ran from the area through the rear of the school.
Authorities said they were searching the suspect’s mobile phone,school video footage and social media posts for any evidence of a possible motive.
According to a November 4 letter written by Principal Steve Wolf,someone threw a deer head into a courtyard from the school’s roof,painted several windows on the roof with red acrylic paint and used the same paint on concrete near the school building during the early morning hours. Without specifically referencing that incident,a second post on November 12 assured “there has been no threat to our building nor our students.”
Both the sheriff and undersheriff emphasised that Tuesday’s shooting was unrelated to the deer head or any earlier investigation by their office.
“That was a different incident,different student,” McCabe said.
A concerned parent,Robin Redding,said her son,Treshan Bryant,was a 12th grader at the school but stayed homeon Tuesday. Redding said her son had heard threats that there could be a shooting.
“This couldn’t be just random,” she said.
Bryant said he texted several younger cousins in the morning and they said they didn’t want to go to school,and he got a bad feeling. He asked his mum if he could do his assignments online.
Bryant said he had heard vague threats “for a long time now” about plans for a shooting.
At a vigil at Lakepoint Community Church on Tuesday night,Leeann Dersa choked back tears as she hugged friends and neighbours. Dersa has lived nearly all of her 73 years in Oxford and her grandchildren attended the high school.
“Scared us all something terrible. It’s awful,” Dersa said of the shooting.
Pastor Jesse Holt said news of the shooting flooded in to him and his wife,including texts from some of the 20 to 25 students who were among the 400-member congregation.
“Some were very scared,hiding under their desks and texting us,‘We’re safe,we’re OK. We heard gunshots,but we’re OK.’ They were trying to calm us,at least that’s how it felt,” he said.
AP
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