At least that’s the argument their lawyers made in court before Ms. Crumbley, last month, and Mr. Crumbley, almost two weeks ago, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials.
Prosecutors argued that the Crumbleys did not do enough to secure the gun and ignored warning signs that Ethan was planning to use it.
After every mass shooting by a teenager at a school, there is an instinct to look to the shooter’s parents to understand what went wrong.
His father said the family had a gun safe but the safe’s combination was the default factory setting, 0-0-0.
One factor that’s gotten less attention, however, is how the Crumbleys’ attitudes and actions reflect an increasingly insidious gun culture that treats guns as instruments of defiance and rebellion rather than as a means of last resort.
Persons:
James, Jennifer Crumbley, Ethan, Sauer, Crumbley, I’ve
Organizations:
Prosecutors
Locations:
Michigan