Oxford counselor discusses emails from teachers, meeting with parents on day of shooting during James Crumbley trial
The trial of James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford High School shooter, continues Monday with another day of testimony.
James Crumbley has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the Oxford High School shooting where his son killed four students and injured seven others on Nov. 30, 2021. His wife, Jennifer Crumbley, was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter last month. She will be sentenced on April 9.
The first person called to testify on March 11 was Shawn Hopkins, a counselor at Oxford High School at the time of the shooting. He started as an intern with the Oxford school district in 2014 and became full-time in 2015.
Hopkins said a counselor's role was to be a student advocate and remain on the student's side during difficult situations, not discipline. He also helped them make the move from high school to higher education or the workforce.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, several students were dealing with anxiety as classes returned to in-person learning in the fall of 2021, and he said at least four students had attempted suicide.
The prosecution asked him about suicidal ideation, and Hopkins said, "suicidal ideation is looking at themes, ideas, behaviors which could be associated with suicide."
He said anxiety, depression, and sadness aren't suicidal on their own, but leaving those things unchecked could potentially become suicidal.
Hopkins said he would have met with the shooter during his freshman year in February 2021 but that he doesn't remember that meeting.
He said there was a phone call in the spring of 2021 from a teacher to Hopkins, and then he called into the shooter's classroom to meet with him, but he doesn't recall that.
An English teacher reached out to Hopkins through an email, asking him to call the shooter to his office because he was failing the class and trying to sleep all the time.
He didn't contact the Crumbley parents because it was a check-in, and it didn't raise the level of concern to contact parents.
Then, in September 2021, he received an email from a different teacher about the shooter. The teacher asked him to meet with the shooter because, in his autobiography, he said he felt terrible and that his family was a mistake.
He said when he talked to the teacher, she said she learned the shooter was joking with others in the class, and it wasn't the full level of concern she initially believed when she had sent him the email.
That same teacher emailed him again on Nov. 10, 2021, saying that the shooter was having a hard time.
Hopkins checked in with the student in between classes to let him know that he was there for him if he needed to talk about anything.
He did not contact a parent at this point because he wanted to get information from the student first, and a student being sad is not something he would call a parent over.
On Nov. 29, 2021, he received another email from another teacher. This teacher said he was on his phone looking at bullets and that after reviewing previous work, the teacher said it was on the violent side.
He went to the restorative practices coordinator and they met with the student over this email.
She told the student that searching for those things on his phone wasn't school-appropriate, and the student said he understood.
After the meeting, she called the student's mother.
Hopkins testified that it takes a lot to get to the point of calling a parent to the school.
On Nov. 30, 2021, a teacher sent Hopkins and the restorative practices coordinator an email that said the shooter was looking at "videos on his phone of a guy gunning down people."
He said he was frustrated because they had just talked with the student about school appropriateness.
After that, Nicholas Ejak, dean of students, was shown a math assignment with disturbing drawings.
Hopkins met with the shooter about the videos and the math assignment, and the shooter told him he was watching a video game on his phone.
Ejak was present for the meeting.
He said the drawings on the math assignment were from video games. Hopkins then questioned him about the words he wrote, and then the shooter started talking about how school was tough for him during COVID-19 and mentioned a family member dying and that his friend had moved away.
When Hopkins asked him which parent he wanted him to call, the shooter told him his mom would be easier to get ahold of. She didn't pick up, so he called the shooter's father, and he said he thought he answered because there was air on the other end, but he didn't hear anyone.
The mother called back, and he said he had spoken to her for about 5 minutes and he had sent her an email with the math assignment.
Jennifer and James Crumbley went to the school at about 10:40 a.m. that morning, and he hoped that the parents would take him to get help or take him out of school to just have a good day.
Hopkins says that when he asked the shooter if he was a threat to himself or others, the shooter said he could see how it looked bad but that he wasn't going to do anything.
He told the parents he wanted them to get their son help today if possible, and Jennifer Crumbley said that wasn't possible. At this time, James Crumbley was looking at the math assignment with his son and telling him that he had people he could talk to.
Hopkins testified that they should get his son help within 48 hours, and then he would be following up. He said that had the shooting not occurred, he'd have followed up with the student, and if the parents didn't get him help, he was prepared to contact Child Protective Services.
The defense began the cross-examination, and Hopkins confirmed he didn't recall his first interaction with the shooter and didn't call his parents.
Defense attorney Mariell Lehman questioned him about the autobiography project, and Hopkins confirmed he didn't contact the student or parents because the teacher had lowered the level of concern.
Lehman referenced a second email from the teacher where she said the shooter was having a rough time, and he confirmed he didn't contact the parents at that time.
She questioned him about Oxford being a hunting community and asked if students going to a gun range was concerning. He said a student going to a gun range in itself is not concerning.
Lehman asked him about the student looking at bullets on his phone. She asked him, as a school counselor, if he was concerned about that. He said this situation and other factors are why they called home and scheduled a meeting.
She continued to question and confirm the different points the prosecution made.
