Oakland County commissioner wants independent review of emergency response in Oxford High School shooting
PONTIAC, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – The chairman of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners is pushing for a deeper investigation into how emergency responders handled the tragic 2021 Oxford High School shooting, which resulted in the deaths of four students and injuries to seven others.
This comes after two local fire chiefs told the Detroit News this week that their crews had to self-dispatch because the Oakland County Sheriff's Office didn't call them quickly enough.
"We've all been under the impression that there was a flawless response to the Oxford tragedy," said Dave Woodward, chairman of the Oakland County Board of Commissioners.
Serious questions have come about after now-retired Oxford Fire Chief Matthew Majestic and the Addison Township Fire Chief Jerry Morawski told the Detroit News that the Oakland County Sheriff's Office took too long to notify them about the mass shooting. They believe it could have made a difference in how they treated the victims.
However, the sheriff's office denied the claims, saying that it did everything by the book and that the chaos of the situation made it difficult to respond any faster.
It's why Woodward is proposing making it mandatory to have third-party reviews of any future mass shootings.
"I know that there are some disputes between agencies and exactly the details and technicals, and that's fine," Woodward said. "We will have the resources set aside, but most importantly, we will identify the firm that will do the independent evaluation of these after-action reports in the future."
A spokesperson for the Oakland Sheriff's Office issued the following statement:
"The premise The Detroit News first approached us about was not based on the facts or reality. Despite providing ample evidence and data to the contrary, it was either not published or obfuscated. They have committed journalistic malpractice by creating the false impression that things would have been different. They also created the false implication we declined to participate in any after action review."
"I think it comes down to how do we respond to these I think it's really important to recognize that this is not about gotcha or pointing fingers, or you did this or you didn't do this. This is about how do we do all of this better," Woodward said.
Woodward said the Board of Commissioners is hammering out its next budget, and it will find the money to make it happen.
He hopes to have a proposal ready by the end of the month.
