Michigan school shooting: Teenager pleads guilty to killing classmate

A Michigan teenager accused of murdering four students with a semi-automatic handgun his father gave him for Christmas has pleaded guilty.

16-year-old Ethan Cranbury is being tried as an adult and charged with terrorism and first-degree murder.

he was 15 Shooting at Oxford High SchoolNovember 2021, approximately 30 miles north of Detroit.

Gunmen face life imprisonment without parole.

On Monday, Cranbury pleaded guilty in a Michigan court to 24 counts, including one count of terrorism, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to kill, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm.

The terrorism allegations are unusual for a school shooting in the United States. Prosecutors said they filed the indictment to acknowledge the impact the shooting had on the entire community.

The shooter agreed to pack his handgun and ammunition in his backpack and bring it to school on November 30, 2021.

He then loaded the gun into a bathroom before firing more than 30 shots at staff and students in the school hallway.

Four students died in the shooting: Tate Maia, 16, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Hannah St. Julianna, 14, and Justin Schilling, 17.

Prosecutors claimed the attack was “completely pre-planned” and said Crumble had spoken about killing a student the night before the shooting.

“This was not an impulsive act,” said Karen McDonald, Oakland County prosecutor in December 2021 when the indictment was first announced.

The gunman’s parents, James and Jennifer Cranbury, also face four counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Cranbury was using a semi-automatic pistol that his father had purchased as a Christmas present four days before the shooting.

Prosecutors allege he ignored signs of violence and did not keep the gun his son used in a safe place.

The case appears to be the first time in the United States that the parents of a school shooting boy have been prosecuted.

Earlier this year, the shooter’s attorneys said they would pursue an insanity defense. Instead, he entered a guilty plea.

Prosecutors said Friday that no plea deal, commutation or sentencing was reached in the case.

The shooter is scheduled to appear in court again in February 2023, where shooting victims will be given an opportunity to make impact statements. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for a later date.

-BBC