Ethan Crumbley’s dad calls himself ‘martyr,’ threatens prosecutor in jailhouse call: ‘You better be f–king scared’
The dad of school mass shooter Ethan Crumbley called himself a “martyr’’ in a profanity-laced prison phone chat, blamed the school for his son’s horror crime — and vowed the prosecutor would be “in hell soon.”
James Crumbley — who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter over his son’s shooting at Oxford High School in 2021 — threatened to “take down” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald multiple times in the recorded undated phone call, where the father shook off responsibility for Ethan, then 15, taking the lives of four students and injuring seven others.
“When I get out of here, I’m going on a f–king rampage, Karen. Yes, Karen McDonald, your s–t is going down,” the dad told an unidentified person on the other end, according to Click on Detroit. “You better be f–king scared.
“Go ahead, and record this call,” he goaded. “Send it to Karen McDonald, tell her how James Crumbley is going to f–king take her down.
“She will not have a law license when I’m done with her. And like I said earlier, Karen McDonald is going to be working at f–king McDonald’s because she ain’t going to be able to get a f–king job anywhere else.”
James Crumbley, 47, and his wife Jennifer, 45, were both sentenced to between 10 and 15 years behind bars Tuesday for their son’s massacre in Michigan.
The dad went as far as to say he’s been made a “martyr” — as he and his wife were the first parents to ever be charged in connection to their child’s mass shooting, let alone convicted.
“I feel like I’m joined the military and going to fight for my country, you know? I kind of am. I’m fighting for everyone else’s freedom,” he said in the phone call.
“I kind of feel like a martyr or martra, however you want to pronounce it. If they allow this stupid b—h to do to us what she’s trying to do based on nothing. … Here’s the thing, she never did any type of investigation before they charged us,” he raged.
Prosecutors said the parents were criminally negligent for providing a gun to Ethan as an early Christmas present and for ignoring the signs that he could be potentially violent.
McDonald claimed James Crumbley “did nothing over and over and over again” to stop his son despite knowing his obsession with guns and violence.
Although the parents were tried separately, their defense teams argued they couldn’t have known their son would become a mass shooter.
In James’ jailhouse call, he makes it clear he takes no responsibility in the horror and blames the high school for not doing more to protect its students.
“They’re trying to blame it all on us, they’re trying to say none of this should have happened because you,” he said, dragging out the last word. “It’s so f–king ridiculous. It wasn’t us! It wasn’t us! It was the f–king school!”
Throughout his long-winded rant, the dad continuously referred to McDonald, whom he called “ignorant” and “uneducated” and said she as a “stupid b—h.
“She’s going to be f–king sucking on a f–king hot rock down in hell soon,” he said. “She’s going to drive me f–king insane in this place.”
He added that he couldn’t “discuss” his rampage plans “on the phone because then I’ll give away stuff too.”
Ethan Crumbley pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree murder and terrorism, in October 2022. He was sentenced to life behind bars.
