Daily US Times: Prosecutors have charged the parents of a suspect in a deadly Michigan school shooting with involuntary manslaughter.
Authorities have issued a fugitive warrant for James and Jennifer Crumbley, who are accused of ignoring warning signs before the gun rampage.
Ethan Crumbley, 15, is accused of using his father’s gun to shoot classmates in Oxford, about 35 miles (60 km) north of Detroit, this week.
He has pleaded not guilty on multiple charges including terrorism.
James and Jennifer Crumbley are facing four counts each.
Authorities in Oakland County have told US media they are currently searching for the pair after the Crumbleys’ lawyers were unable to reach them by phone.
“If they think they’re going to get away, they’re not,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told CNN.
He said that a number of his detectives, the FBI and US Marshals Service were looking for the couple.
But in a joint statement via text message to the BBC lawyers Shannon Smith and Mariell Lehman said the Crumbleys “are not fleeing from law enforcement” and had left town on the night of the shooting “for their own safety”.
They added the pair would return for their arraignment, which was expected to take place later on Friday.
Four people were killed and seven injured in the shooting on Tuesday. The victims were Tate Myre, 16, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Hana St Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17.
Why have the parents been charged?
On Friday, Oakland County lead prosecutor Karen McDonald acknowledged that charging parents in a child’s alleged crime was highly unusual.
According to her office’s investigation, the boy was with his father last Friday when Mr Crumbley bought the firearm believed to have been used in the shooting.
A post on the boy’s social media later that day showed off his dad’s new weapon as “my new beauty”, adding a heart emoji.
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