Oxford shooting victims sue district for $100 million

(The Center Square) – Oxford High School shooter survivors are suing the district for $100 million, alleging officials “failed at every turn” to stop a five-minute rampage that left four students dead and several others wounded.

At an 11 a.m., Thursday press conference, lawyer Geoffrey Fieger said “We’re going to hold people responsible.”

Fieger represents Oxford students and siblings 17-year-old Riley Franz, who was shot in the neck, and 14-year-old freshman Bella Franz.

“The school failed to consider the safety of other students,” Fieger said.

The suspected shooter, Ethan Crumbley, 15, has been charged as an adult with 24 felonies including first-degree murder and terrorism. He is being held without bond.

The 48-page federal lawsuit accuses school officials of failing to stop the attack, despite red flags such as Ethan getting caught searching for ammunition on his phone, and posting on his Twitter account the night before, “Now I become Death, the destroyer of worlds. See you tomorrow Oxford.”

Defendants listed include Superintendent Timothy Throne, High School Principal Steven Wolf, Dean Ryan Moore, and unidentified school employees.

Around Nov. 16, the lawsuit says multiple parents warned Wolf of online threats, which he called in an email to parents “exaggerated rumors.”

“I know I’m being redundant here, but there is absolutely no threat at the HS…large assumptions were made from a few social media posts, then the assumptions evolved into exaggerated rumors,” Wolf wrote.

In a letter, Oxford Superintendent Tim Throne asked for a third-party investigation into the shooting but turned down Attorney General Dana Nessel’s offer.

“… Many of our parents have understandably been asking for the school’s version of events leading up to the shooting,” Throne’s letter read. “It’s critically important to the victims, our staff and our entire community that a full and transparent accounting be made.”

The shooting killed four students: 16-year-old Tate Myre, 14-year-old Hanna St. Julian, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin, and 17-year-old Justin Schilling.

Fieger said the lawsuit aims to bring change.

“We hope by this lawsuit to make the financial cost of allowing children to be slaughtered very high as to compel people to do something,” Fieger said.

The lawsuit seeks a jury trial.

Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square