Molly Darnell, teacher shot in Oxford shooting, gives emotional testimony during trial of James Crumbley
(CBS DETROIT) - Oxford High School educator Molly Darnell was the first witness called to testify in the trial of James Crumbley.
The defense and the prosecution delivered their opening statements Thursday in the trial of James Crumbley, the father of the Oxford High School shooter.
Both focused on James Crumbley's actions as a father before the shooting.
The prosecution says that there were several opportunities for James Crumbley to prevent his son from committing murder, and the defense said that the father was not aware that the gun was accessible to his son.
After a short break, the first witness called to testify is Molly Darnell, who was working as a coordinator at the high school at the time of the shooting but has been working for the school district since 1998.
After online learning for a while, Darnell said she had been working in the building again in November 2021. She had a shared office and not an actual classroom at the time of the shooting, although it was a classroom that was being partially used as her office.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald reviewed a school map with Darnell, questioning her about where her office was, as jurors hadn't seen a map of the school yet.
She said that as she was working on her laptop, she noticed a group of students running, which was unusual.
So, she went into the hallway to see what was going on. She said she went back inside her office, and the bells were chiming as the principal announced the school was being placed under lockdown.
Darnell said she also heard "pop, pop, pop" at this time and doors slamming, so she moved to shut her door.
She explained that there was a Nightlock, which keeps the door from being opened if someone tries to shoot at it. If the Nightlock is in place, it keeps the door from being opened, and a person inside the room would have to disengage it for the door to be opened.
As she was about to put the night lock on, she looked up and saw the shooter through the glass window on her door. Darnell said as she locked eyes with him, she realized he was raising a gun.
Darnell said she jumped out of the way, but she felt a sting on the backside of her left arm as she was shot. She showed the jury her wound. At the time, though, she didn't realize she had been shot.
She said she tried to move a filing cabinet to block the door but couldn't, so she crawled to the door and put the Nightlock in.
After that, she put a rolling cart in front of the door.
Darnell describes how she was afraid the shooter was going to come back around to the back windows, so she moved the filing cabinet slightly to hide behind it.
At this point, she realized there was blood trickling down her arm. She took off her cardigan and tied it around her arm as a tourniquet.
She said she texted her husband, "I love you. Active shooter."
A few minutes later, her daughter texted her asking if she was okay because she heard there was an active shooter at the high school from social media.
"I'm just listening to what's happening outside, trying to distinguish what's my next move?"
She said there was another announcement, and she said she received a message in a group chat with her language arts team, who were in another part of the building, that said they heard about there being an active shooter. She told them she saw the shooter.
After, she heard footsteps and thought they might be evacuating, but she texted the teacher in the classroom next to hers and told her that she had been shot in the arm. That teacher then alerted the front office.
Then, the assistant principal knocked on the door, but she didn't fully trust that it was him. Authorities were with him, and when she opened the door, they walked her down the hallway and took her outside to get a tourniquet.
Darnell testified, "They said we're going to call to see if there's an ambulance available for you. We need to know if someone needs it more than you."
She then got an ambulance and was taken to Lapeer Hospital. She said the hallway was lined with doctors and nurses as she walked in.
Her injury was "through and through," and she said, "it was clean." They also did a chest X-ray to check for debris.
Her husband took her home later that night.
She described the location of her wound, saying that she realized it was level to her heart. "He was aiming to kill me."