March 3 (Reuters) - A Michigan judge on Friday dismissed a school district and its employees as defendants in two wrongful death lawsuits stemming from a deadly 2021 mass shooting by a 15-year-old student armed with a gun his parents had bought him for Christmas. Remaining as defendants in the civil lawsuits are the gunman, Ethan Crumbley, who has since pleaded guilty to murder charges, and his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting. Instead, he was returned to class, and emerged from a bathroom a short time later to go on his rampage. School districts cannot be sued over "the exercise or discharge of a governmental function," and none of the exceptions recognized under statutes or case law apply, the judge wrote. Ultimately, however, "Ethan Crumbley's act of firing the gun, rather than the alleged conduct of the individual Oxford defendants" was the proximate cause of injuries, the judge held.

---