Macomb County man had rifle with written phrase used by Oxford High School shooter, feds say
The FBI has arrested a Macomb County, Michigan, man accused of violating federal gun laws and possessing a rifle with a written phrase once said by the Oxford High School shooter.
In a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the FBI alleges Eleazareli Maycock violated federal law by possessing a firearm with its serial number intentionally scratched off.
Federal authorities say the phrase, "There is no God," was written on a Savage Arms .22 caliber rifle. The phrase was written in white paint with a star surrounded by a circle next to it.
It's the same phrase Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley said in a video posted the night before he killed four students and injured seven others on Nov. 30, 2021. Crumbley, who pleaded guilty to multiple charges in October 2022 in connection with the shooting, is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The investigation began in May after the FBI said it received information that Maycock allegedly made threatening statements on YouTube.
An air marshal assigned to the FBI's Detroit Division's Joint Terrorism Task Force interviewed Maycock at his residence on May 22, where he admitted to possessing a Savage Arms .22 caliber rifle.
The officer noticed the scratched-off serial number and turned the rifle over to the Macomb County Sheriff's Department for safekeeping.
"Combined with the angle of the heavy scratches, the damage to the serial number could not have occurred through normal usage or an accident," the FBI wrote in the criminal complaint.
FBI investigators allege that a YouTube account associated with Maycock's address made comments praising other mass shooters, including one that read "i will be the next brenton tarrant trust me."
Brenton Tarrant is an Australian man who murdered 51 people in mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.
According to the FBI, during a June 9 interview, Maycock said he purchased the rifle "new" from Dunham's Discount Sports in Sterling Heights. However, the investigator wrote in the complaint that after consulting a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent, they confirmed the gun was manufactured outside of Michigan.
"SA Hurt confirmed the firearm was manufactured by Savage Arms outside of the state of Michigan and therefore travelled in and affected interstate commerce," the FBI wrote in the complaint.
