Firm says investigation into Oxford school shooting continues despite judge's ruling
OXFORD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A firm that is conducting an independent investigation into the November 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School says there will be no "adverse impact" to its investigation after a judge ruled that district employees have government immunity and cannot be sued.
In an update on Monday, New York-based Guidepost Solutions says it received "greater voluntary cooperation from District employees including critical witnesses."
"We have received from the District almost 700,000 documents (around 790 gigabytes), of which approximately 70,000 documents were responsive and required human review for relevance and materiality," the firm says. "Our reports will provide the community with a full accounting of what is currently in place and what happened before, during, and after the tragic events of November 30, 2021."
Investigators expect in early April to be able to examine and report on whether the district's procedures were consistent and with best practices. They are currently awaiting new procedure documents that are being implemented and reviewed by the district.
The firm, which began interviews in October 2022, says it is in the process of scheduling more interviews with witnesses.
On Friday, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ellen Brennan dismissed all entities and employees from a civil lawsuit, citing that the shooter, Ethan Crumbley, was the "immediate" and "direct" cause of the incident. The lawsuit claimed the district was negligent and ignored warning signs from Crumbley that could have prevented the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting that killed four students and injured seven others.
Brennan concluded that the school officials were not the "proximate cause."
"No reasonable trier of fact could conclude that the conduct of any individual Oxford Defendants was 'the one most immediate, efficient, and direct cause of the injury or damage' to the Plaintiffs," the judge wrote in her ruling.
Attorney Ven Johnson, who filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of three of the victims, says he plans to appeal the ruling.
"We are deeply saddened and disappointed by Judge Brennan's dismissal today of all the Oxford Community Schools defendants. We maintain that governmental immunity is wrong and unconstitutional, and the law should be changed immediately," Johnson said in a statement on Friday.
