Massive new Oxford H.S. shooting report includes heart-wrenching details on victims

Oxford's community is grappling with a 572-page report on the events leading up to and surrounding the Nov. 30, 2021, Oxford High School shooting.

The massive report was published on Monday evening. Community members have long demanded an independent investigation into what factors may have contributed to the tragedy and what safety shortfalls could still exist within the district. The investigation came after the Oxford Community Schools' board came under pressure in May 2022 from students and parents who called for a transparent investigation. The report is based on interviews with former and current students and staff members, court testimony, documents, video surveillance and other evidence.

The information that stands out in the report includes the following:

Threat assessment policy questioned

School Superintendent Tim Throne's execution of the district's threat assessment and suicide intervention policies received some of the most scrutiny in the report. Investigators noted that Oxford High School officials had never used the district's approved threat assessment form before the shooting. The school's principal at the time, Steven Wolf, didn't recall any communication about Oxford's threat assessment policy from Throne or other Oxford administrators.

Wolf said, according to the report, that building administrators were not "focused on policies and guidelines," and instead on "goals on the ground."

The report's investigators wrote that administrators should have conducted a threat assessment and suicide intervention on the shooter, as red flags became glaring on Nov. 30 just before the massacre.

'Gun culture' in Oxford cited

Multiple school officials said that the shooter's fascination with guns, and, specifically, his search for bullets during a class, didn't necessarily raise red flags because firearms are common in Oxford, especially due to hunting. Pam Fine, an antibullying coordinator, and Shawn Hopkins, the shooter's counselor, both noted that many folks in Oxford used guns for hunting and that seeing a photo related to a firearm during hunting season wasn't uncommon. Students were known to visit shooting ranges.

According to the report, Fine testified, "We have students who, on homecoming, our girls are holding a semi-automatic rifle. We are a community that uses — Has a tremendous amount of interest in gun hobbies."

Hopkins testified that a lot of students are "growing up in a gun culture" in a hunting community.

EMS response times

The report's authors note that they were not responsible for examining EMS response times, but the issue of how long it took for emergency medical workers to reach wounded students is raised multiple times.

Wolf remembered getting angry watching police and EMS drive by the building, and his frustration "growing because there was nobody there to help them" by one particular door with a victim with a serious injury. EMS first entered the hallway where wounded students were at 1:13:33, 21 minutes after the first 911 call, according to the report. It's not clear whether such timing is unusual.

"No emergency medical service personnel ever provided any medical assistance to Tate Myre while he remained in the school building," the report states. Tate, a 16-year-old junior, was killed in the attack. He was first shot at 12:52, and at 1:09 Oakland County sheriff's deputies moved him to a patrol vehicle to find assistance. EMS parked outside the school pronounced him dead at 1:15.

Surveillance shortfalls

School officials at first failed to monitor surveillance video as the shooting took place, according to the report. The video surveillance system at Oxford High included 177 cameras placed on the campus, but no one was assigned to monitor cameras during an emergency such as a shooting. Guidepost investigators note that surveillance could have helped locate the shooter and could have kept students and staff informed of where not to go.

Fine viewed the cameras only after a 911 operator asked, according to the report.

Educators and students helped one another

Multiple school staff members are praised in the report for their actions on Nov. 30.

Kristy Gibson-Marshall, an assistant principal, heard gunshots while in the hallways and recognized Tate injured on the ground. As the shooter approached, Gibson-Marshall saw a gun in his hand, and as he passed by, she asked whether he was OK, but recognized "something was really wrong" when he didn't answer her and continued on. Gibson-Marshall then began to administer CPR to Tate, "telling him that she loved him and that he needed to hang on."

Kurt Nuss, also an assistant principal, ran to help students, locking a student in a science room out of the hallway where the shooter was, and helping Gibson-Marshall administer first aid. Fine directed students outside and told them to keep running away.

Other students recalled helping one another duck into bathrooms and out of hallways. They yelled for others to run and clear hallways. Some installed Nightlocks, special locks to keep a potential shooter out, on the doors and handed out items to other students in case they needed to use them as weapons, according to the report.

Heart-wrenching details about victims

The report also includes details about the victims and the trauma their families have faced since the shooting.

One of Hana St. Juliana's teachers said the 14-year-old freshman's "smile, laugh and enthusiasm lit up the classroom. ... Her presence made a huge impact on those around her."

Before he was fatally shot, Justin Shilling, a senior, 17, texted his family and friends to tell them that he loved them and to check that his younger sibling was OK.

Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and also a senior, worked on a childhood memory box in her second hour ceramics class on Nov. 30, before she was killed. A close friend finished the project, so it could end up with Madisyn's parents.

And Tate that day had presented a lesson around cyberbullying to a sixth grade class at Oxford Middle School, making the younger students laugh and engage with what he was teaching them.

For many, the contents of the report, which can be read here, may be triggering. The district included the following resources in a message to the community:

• The All For Oxford Resiliency Center is available for students seeking help.

• The Common Ground Crisis Center at 1200 N. Telegraph Road in Pontiac is open 24 hours.

• The suicide and crisis lifeline can be called at 988.

The district will hold a listening session at 6 p.m. Nov. 9 at Oxford Middle School.

Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What to know about the Oxford High shooting investigation