Oxford High School counselor Shawn Hopkins says teachers emailed him with concerns about shooter
(CBS DETROIT) - An Oxford High School counselor testified in Jennifer Crumbley's trial on Monday, saying he was concerned about her son, who killed four students and injured seven others in the shooting on Nov. 30, 2021.
During his testimony, Shawn Hopkins explained that he was the shooter's counselor and shared information about receiving emails from teachers who were concerned by his behavior.
Emails from teachers concerned about the teen's behavior
One teacher asked Hopkins to meet with the shooter in an email in May 2021, claiming that he was failing and trying to sleep during class all of the time.
Then, in September 2021, a Spanish teacher emailed Hopkins and asked him to chat with the teen.
"In his Auto-Biography poem, he said that he feels terrible and that his family is a mistake...Unusual responses for sure," according to the email.
Hopkins said he did not have a meeting or phone call with the shooter or his parents, but he spoke with the teacher.
According to email exchanges shown during the trial, the Spanish teacher contacted Hopkins again on Nov. 10, 2021, saying that the shooter was having a rough time and might need to speak with him.
Hopkins had a meeting with the shooter in the hallway before class the next day and let the shooter know he was there for him if he needed someone to talk to.
He said he didn't contact the teen's parents because the information he had was that the student was sad, which was a pretty common thing to him.
After that, Hopkins said on Nov. 29, 2021, he received an email from a teacher who said she caught the shooter looking at bullets and also noticed that work he completed earlier that year also seemed to be violent.
READ MORE: Jennifer Crumbley's attorney apologizes for offensive comments made during trial
Meeting with the teen the day of the Oxford High School shooting
On the morning of Nov. 30, the day of the shooting, Hopkins met with the shooter after a math teacher found violent drawings on one of his assignments.
When asked about the drawings on the math assignment, Hopkins said the teen told him they were from a video game.
After seeing the drawings and reading the words on the assignment, he was concerned that the teen may be suicidal.
When Hopkins heard about some of the struggles the shooter was going through, such as his dog dying, a grandparent dying, the COVID pandemic, and his friend leaving the school, he told the shooter he needed to call his parents in for a meeting.
Hopkins had hoped his parents would take him home from school that day.
"I did not want him to be alone at that point," Hopkins said. In fact, that's why I kept him in my office until I can make contact with the parents."
Hopkins said he did not specifically ask James and Jennifer Crumbley to take their son home that day but asked them to get him help through therapy.
The student had requested to return to class that day, and his parents agreed. After speaking with the dean at the school, the shooter was allowed to go back to class because he couldn't be removed from class without any disciplinary action.
Hopkins said that he was going to check back in with the parents in 48 hours, and if they did not get the shooter the help he needed, then he planned to contact Child Protective Services.
Jennifer Crumbley charged with involuntary manslaughter
Jennifer Crumbley is charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the Oxford High School shooting in which her son killed four students, Justin Shilling, Madisyn Baldwin, Tate Myre, and Hana St. Juliana, and injured seven other people.
Her son was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December.
The prosecution expects to call about 20 to 25 people to testify in Jennifer Crumbley's trial.
James Crumbley's trial is scheduled to begin in March.
