PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) \u2014 A prosecutor in Michigan filed involuntary manslaughter charges Friday against the parents of a boy who is accused of killing four students at Oxford High School, after saying earlier that their actions went \u201cfar beyond negligence,\u00a0\u00bb her office said.<\/b>
\nBy COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) \u2014 A prosecutor filed involuntary manslaughter charges Friday against the parents of a teen accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school, saying they failed to intervene on the day of the tragedy despite being confronted with a drawing and chilling message \u2014 \u201cblood everywhere\u201d \u2014 that was found at the boy\u2019s desk. James and Jennifer Crumbley committed \u201cegregious\u201d acts, from buying a gun on Black Friday and making it available to Ethan Crumbley to resisting his removal from school when they were summoned a few hours before the shooting, Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald said. \u201cI expect parents and everyone to have humanity and to step in and stop a potential tragedy,\u201d she said. \u201cThe conclusion I draw is that there was absolute reason to believe this individual was dangerous and disturbed.\u201d By mid-afternoon, authorities said they were searching for the couple. Sheriff Mike Bouchard said their attorney, Shannon Smith, had agreed to arrange their arrest if charges were filed but hadn\u2019t been able to reach them. Smith, however, said the Crumbleys weren\u2019t on the run and had left town earlier in the week \u201cfor their own safety.\u201d \u201cThey are returning to the area to be arraigned,\u201d Smith told The Associated Press. U.S. Marshals on Friday night announced a reward of up to $10,000 each for information leading to the Crumbleys\u2019 arrest. Earlier, the prosecutor offered the most precise account so far of the events that led to the shooting, three days after four students were killed and others were wounded at Oxford High School, roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit. Ethan Crumbley,15, emerged from a bathroom with a gun, shooting students in the hallway, investigators said. He\u2019s charged as an adult with murder, terrorism and other crimes. Under Michigan law, the involuntary manslaughter charge filed against the parents can be pursued if authorities believe someone contributed to a situation where there was a high chance of harm or death. Parents in the U.S. are rarely charged in school shootings involving their children, even as most minors get guns from a parent or relative\u2019s house, according to experts. School officials became concerned about the younger Crumbley on Monday, a day before the shooting, when a teacher saw him searching for ammunition on his phone, McDonald said. Jennifer Crumbley was contacted and subsequently told her son in a text message: \u201cLol. I\u2019m not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught,\u201d according to the prosecutor. On Tuesday, a teacher found a note on Ethan\u2019s desk and took a photo. It was a drawing of a gun pointing at the words, \u201cThe thoughts won\u2019t stop. Help me,\u201d McDonald said. There also was a drawing of a bullet, she said, with words above it: \u201cBlood everywhere.\u201d Between the gun and the bullet was a person who appeared to have been shot twice and is bleeding. He also wrote, \u201cMy life is useless\u201d and \u201cThe world is dead,\u201d according to the prosecutor. The school quickly had a meeting with Ethan and his parents, who were told to get him into counseling within 48 hours, McDonald said. The Crumbleys failed to ask their son about the gun or check his backpack and \u201cresisted the idea of their son leaving the school at that time,\u201d McDonald said. Instead, the teen returned to class and the shooting subsequently occurred. \u201cThe notion that a parent could read those words and also know that their son had access to a deadly weapon that they gave him is unconscionable \u2014 it\u2019s criminal,\u201d the prosecutor said. Jennifer Crumbley texted her son after the shooting, saying, \u201cEthan, don\u2019t do it,\u201d McDonald said. James Crumbley called 911 to say that a gun was missing from their home and that Ethan might be the shooter. The gun had been kept in an unlocked drawer in the parents\u2019 bedroom, McDonald said. Ethan accompanied his father for the gun purchase on Nov.26 and posted photos of the firearm on social media, saying, \u201cJust got my new beauty today,\u201d McDonald said. Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, Jennifer Crumbley wrote on social media that it is a \u201cmom and son day testing out his new Christmas present,\u201d the prosecutor said. Asked at a news conference if the father could be charged for purchasing the gun for the son, McDonald said that would be the decision of federal authorities. In a video message to the community Thursday, the head of Oxford Community Schools said the high school looks like a \u201cwar zone\u201d and won\u2019t be ready for weeks. Superintendent Tim Throne repeatedly complimented students and staff for how they responded to the violence. He also acknowledged the meeting of Crumbley, the parents and school officials. Throne offered no details but summed it up by saying, \u201cNo discipline was warranted.\u201d McDonald was asked about the decision to keep Crumbley in school. \u201cOf course, he shouldn\u2019t have gone back to that classroom.\u2026 I believe that is a universal position. I\u2019m not going to chastise or attack, but yeah,\u201d she said. Asked if school officials may potentially be charged, McDonald said: \u201cThe investigation\u2019s ongoing.\u201d ___ White reported from Detroit. Associated Press journalist Mike Householder in Detroit and David Eggert in Lansing, Mich., also contributed to this report.<\/p>\n