3 killed, 8 injured in Michigan school shooting, sheriff says. 15-year-old arrested

Three students were killed and eight others injured when a 15-year-old opened fire at a Michigan high school, authorities say.

The shooting at Oxford High School in Oakland County occurred around 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 30, and a 15-year-old sophomore at the school has been taken into custody, the sheriff’s office said.

The student used a semi-automatic handgun in the shooting, firing between 15 and 20 shots, Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe said in a news briefing.

“The whole thing lasted five minutes,” McCabe said.

The students killed were a 14-year-old girl, 16-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl. Authorities have not released the names of the victims.

The injured victims were taken to “multiple hospitals,” he said.

Two of the victims are in surgery, where their condition was not known as of 5 p.m. ET, McCabe said. The other six are in stable condition. One teacher was among the people injured, while the other seven were students, according to the sheriff.

More than 100 people called 911 to report the shooting, according to the sheriff’s office. The suspect, who did not resist arrest, has not disclosed a motive and was uninjured.

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The suspect is not cooperating with law enforcement, McCabe said, and the teenager’s parents have advised him not to speak to authorities. The family has also hired an attorney.

The suspect is being held as a juvenile, though he may be charged as an adult. McCabe said officials know how the suspect got the gun, though that information is not being disclosed at this time.

John Lyman, the public information officer for the Rochester Hills Fire Department, said 25 agencies and 60 ambulances responded to the school.

“We didn’t know how many victims we had originally, so you just start bringing everybody in,” Lyman said.

Authorities searched the high school in the hours after the shooting to make sure no victims had been missed in the initial evacuation.

“There was an orderly evacuation, the school did everything right,” McCabe said in the briefing.

The shooting happened in an area of the school where history classes are held, according to ClickOnDetroit.com. Abbey Hodder, a 15-year-old sophomore, told the Detroit Free Press she was in chemistry class when she heard what sounded like glass breaking.

“Then my teacher kind of ran out and was scrambling … and the next thing I knew I saw he was pushing tables. … It’s part of school protocol to barricade, so we all knew, barricade, barricade down. And we all started pushing tables,” Hodder said.

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Eventually, students in Hodder’s chemistry class were instructed by their teacher to jump out a window and run, the student told the Free Press.

“I’m shocked. It’s devastating,” said Tim Throne, the superintendent of Oxford Community Schools, during the news conference.

The school does not have metal detectors, and Thorne said the topic has not come up. A Michigan State Police spokesperson said the incident was the first active shooter situation at a school in the state in at least four decades, according to The Detroit News.

“This is the first one we’ve had as far as an active shooter goes from what I remember,” Lt. Mike Shaw said. “And I’ve been here all my life.”

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer expressed heartbreak in a statement posted to social media.

“I’m devastated for the students, teachers, staff, and families of Oxford High School,” she wrote. “The death of multiple students and shooting of others, including a teacher, is horrific. My heart is with the parents who had their children taken from them and with the entire Oxford community.”

Noting there is a “fairly large crime scene,” McCabe does not believe classes will be held Wednesday, Dec. 1 as the scene is processed. McCabe said the school has an extensive surveillance system, which deputies will review as part of the ongoing investigation.

Oxford High School is part of Oxford Community Schools in Oakland County, part of the Detroit metropolitan area. About 1,800 students are enrolled in the high school.

School administration held an ALICE safety drill on Oct. 7, according to the schools website. ALICE drills, which stand for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, and evacuate, train students and staff on how to stay safe in mass shootings.