Oakland County board approves $500K for independent review of emergency response to Oxford school shooting
OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The Oakland County Board of Commissioners approved half a million dollars for an independent firm to investigate the emergency response during the Oxford High School mass shooting.
In a unanimous vote Thursday night, the board agreed to set $500,000 aside and approved a resolution for an after-action review into the tragedy on Nov. 30, 2021, that killed four students and injured seven others.
"There's a lot of questions that have come to surface as a result of a lot of reporting that opens questions on response time and coordination and after-action reports is really a best practice to look back after these terrible events happen to coordinate, to learn from, to inform trainings going forward and that's what we're trying to do," said Chairman Dave Woodward.
Woodward says that in addition to these findings, the county will create a policy in the next few weeks detailing what to include in an after-action report after a tragedy. Money will be set aside specifically for these reports.
"There have been assertions that Oakland County wasn't willing to make resources available for an after-action report. That is completely false. We do have resources, we want resources made available, we want to do it," Woodward said.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard supports the review and says he encouraged the commission to see it through so anyone with lingering questions from his team's response that day will be answered.
"We're happy to have somebody independently look at it. If there's something we can do better or differently we're always open to that. But we think based on everything, national standards, our folks really performed in an exemplary fashion," said Bouchard.
Woodward says this investigation is not to point fingers at any agency or department for its handling of this tragedy but to better prepare for a serious emergency if one were to happen again in the future.
"This isn't about saying you did this right, you did this wrong. It's about how do we do these things better in the end to make sure our community is safer, to make sure that our emergency responders are as safe and protected going into these situations and doing it in the best way possible to make sure that we minimize casualties,' said Woodward.
It's not clear how long this investigation will take, but Woodward says the report's findings will be available to the public.
Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter sent CBS News Detroit the following statement:
"I appreciate the Oakland County Board of Commissioners' approval of the funding for an After Action Review of the response to the horrific shooting at Oxford High School in 2021. While we hope we never have to use them, developing plans for emergencies and crises is a necessity and helps make our response to events more efficient and effective. Reviews like these help ensure we update and improve those plans so that Oakland County can quickly activate and provide the best possible resources to our residents and communities."
