DETROIT — The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that Oxford schools and its employees have governmental immunity in two lawsuits related to the 2021 Oxford High School shooting that left four students dead as well as six others and a teacher injured.

A three-judge panel ruled Thursday that because of this, the district and its employees can't be sued in connection with their actions leading up to and during the shooting. The judges stated that no reasonable juror would find that anyone aside from shooter Ethan Crumbley can be considered the proximate cause of the shooting.

"While the individual Oxford defendants had some signs (the shooter) might be a danger to himself or others, and Jennifer and James (Crumbley) had even more signs of such, it is simply outside the realm of possibility that a reasonable juror could conclude anyone but (the shooter) was 'the one most immediate, efficient, and direct cause, of the [plaintiffs’] injuries,'" the panel wrote in its ruling on both lawsuits.

The panel heard arguments Sept. 4 and issued a quick ruling in the case, finding that despite the claims of attorneys of the families of Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, Aiden Watson and four other students, the district and employees have governmental immunity. It also found that governmental immunity laws do not violate Michigan equal protection laws, that public school students are not a protected class and there is no fundamental right to be able to sue school officials.

The judges cited a 2020 Court of Appeals ruling that noted "It is well established that governmental immunity is not an affirmative defense, but is instead a characteristic of government."

The lawsuits allege that Oxford schools, along with counselors Pam Fine and Shawn Hopkins, former Dean of Students Nick Ejak, teachers Jacqueline Kubina, Becky Morgan and Allison Karpinski and security guard Kimberly Potts were negligent in not preventing what the families' attorneys say was a foreseeable act by the then-15-year-old shooter.

Civil lawsuits against Oxford Community Schools after the 2021 shooting were dismissed in March 2023 by Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ellen Brennan after she ruled that the district and its employees were protected by governmental immunity and the proximate cause of the shooting was Crumbley.

The shooter, who met with a school counselor just hours before he opened fire, killed four students on Nov. 30, 2021: Madisyn Balwin, 17, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Tate Myre, 16, and Justin Shilling, 17. He is now serving a life in prison sentence without the chance of parole after pleading guilty to murder, attempted murder and terrorism.

An appellate attorney has filed a motion to withdraw the shooter's plea and have him resentenced. Prosecutors have not yet responded to the motion.

Attorneys Ven Johnson and Chris Desmond said they plan to appeal the case to the Michigan Supreme Court, arguing that Oxford employees were the proximate cause of the shooting, that governmental immunity violates the victims' rights to equal protection under the law, that an Oakland County judge didn't consider all evidence when making her decision and Oxford employees failed to report neglect of abuse of the shooter as required by law.

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