Parents of shooting victim file $100 million lawsuit against Oxford High staff, administrators


The parents of two Oxford High School students filed a lawsuit on Thursday against several school and district officials, claiming that last week's mass shooting at the Michigan campus was "entirely preventable."
Jeffrey and Brandi Franz are suing on behalf of their daughters, 17-year-old Riley Franz and 14-year-old Bella Franz, and are asking for more than $100 million in damages. The Nov. 30 shooting left four students dead and seven others injured. Riley was shot in the neck, the suit says, and both girls are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
The suit names several Oxford High School officials, including principal Steven Wolf, two counselors, and two teachers, as well as the Oxford Community School District and Superintendent Timothy Thorne. It alleges that Thorne and Wolf both ignored disturbing and threatening messages the suspect, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, made on social media, and his behavior was not reported to the school safety liaison officer. The officer was not in meetings school officials had with Crumbley and his parents, and Franz family attorney Geoffrey Fieger said on Thursday he has "not heard a rational explanation from the school administration as to why that was not utilized."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Fieger added that "as a result, by doing the things that they did or didn't do, they placed the students in much greater danger than they would have been had they done that. The students would have been protected and that is basically the essence in the federal complaint here."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attack
Speed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival
-
Kenya arrests alleged ant smugglers
speed read Two young Belgians have been charged for attempting to smuggle ants out of the country to exotic pet buyers
-
Judge ends Eric Adams case, Trump leverage
Speed Read Federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams were dismissed, as requested by Trump's Justice Department
-
Texas arrests midwife on felony abortion charges
Speed Read Maria Margarita Rojas and an employee at one of her clinics are the first to be criminally charged under Texas' near-total abortion ban
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squad
speed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said