Families to appeal ruling giving Oxford school district, employees immunity after shooting

An attorney representing parents of Oxford High School shooting victims said Tuesday he will appeal a judge’s ruling Friday that the school district and its employees cannot be sued in relation to the mass shooting in November 2021.

The attorney and several parents also urged a change in a Michigan law that allows governmental immunity for public agencies, including school districts, from many lawsuits.

Oakland County Circuit Judge Mary Ellen Brennan ruled that the school district employees are immune from civil lawsuits claiming that Oxford schools acted negligently while attempting to stop Ethan Crumbley, then 15, from killing four schoolmates and wounding seven others.

Attorney Ven Johnson said he has known Brennan for years and she is a highly respected jurist. But, he added, “we respectfully disagree with some of the judge’s findings.”

Immunity 'doesn't look out for we the people'

Johnson detailed the history of governmental immunity during a news conference attended by some of the parents and other attorneys.

“Everybody in this day and age — 2023 — in a courtroom in the United States should be equal,” Johnson said. “No one should have greater footing than anybody else. And for a government to pass laws to protect itself from being held accountable, when in a situation like this, when overwhelmingly they were absolutely wrong, we think is unconstitutional.”

Parents agreed.

“It’s unfair. It’s unconstitutional. It doesn’t look out for we, the people,” said Buck Myre, father of Tate Myre, who was killed.

Myre said while “we can all agree” Crumbley is one of the reasons for the shooting, “he didn’t walk into school with guns a-blazin’. He walked out of the counseling office with guns a-blazin’.”

More:Oakland County judge: Oxford school district cannot be sued for mass shooting

More:Appeals Court grills Crumbley lawyers, cites 'plenty of warning signs'

'Our government is not above the law'

“Governmental immunity is the school’s only defense. They have nothing else. They have nothing else,” Myre said.

“So they hide behind this umbrella law, and we can’t even question a damn thing. That’s unconstitutional. That’s unfair. That’s a double standard. … Our government is not above the law.”

Myre encouraged school employees to “speak up. Be the change.”

Johnson said if this incident happened at a private school, none of these defenses would be allowed.

Jill Soave, mother of Justin Shilling, who also was killed in the shooting, said she moved to Oxford years ago for the school district.

“When I signed my kids up to go to school, I had no idea what governmental immunity was. I had no idea that I was essentially signing their rights and their safety away. … I had no idea,” she said, adding she is heartbroken and devastated. “This is wrong and needs to be reversed.”

She said it’s been 15 months and “we still don’t have full disclosure on the events leading up to my son’s murder.” She wonders what message is being sent to the community and said the kids in Oxford have been severely traumatized.

More:New Oxford High shooting details emerge in lawsuit against school district

More:Oxford High School shooter should've been sent home under policy, former school officials say

In her opinion, Soave said, governmental immunity is “saying your lives don’t matter. You’re not protected.

“We have to do the right thing. We have to fight and not give up,” she said, adding change is needed not only for her family but for all children in Michigan.

Seeking 'closure instead of heartbreak after heartbreak'

Johnson read a letter from Shilling’s father, Craig Shilling, that began by noting it had been 462 days, 20 hours and about 58 minutes since he last heard from his son, who was “brutally and unnecessarily assassinated.”

Shilling indicated he was a reasonable man who understands the need for laws, Johnson read, “but I do not understand why there are laws that protect some people and not others. How is that fair?”

Schilling wrote that he wants a jury to decide the outcome and to give “the families that lost so much some type of closure instead of heartbreak after heartbreak,” Johnson read from the letter.

Attorney Chris Desmond said they will appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals in the coming weeks, a process that may take a year to 16 months. Whoever does not prevail there will most likely ask the Michigan Supreme Court to take up the matter. If the Michigan Supreme Court does so, that could take another six months to a year.

When asked if the school district talked of a settlement, Johnson said: “Settle? No. They just won. They’ve got nobody left in the case.”

But Johnson said he believes, ultimately, “the court system is gonna get it right. That justice will prevail.”

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Families to appeal ruling giving Oxford schools, employees immunity