'Law & Order' Episode Draws Similarities To Oxford School Shooting

OXFORD, MI — Oxford school officials warned district families Wednesday that a "Law and Order" TV episode draws similarities to the deadly Nov. 30 Oxford High School shootings and "could be a traumatic trigger for our school community," according to a district memo.

Officials said in the memo that the plot for Thursday's episode, "ripped from the headlines," depicts a father who buys a gun for his teen, who then carries out a deadly school shooting. Oakland County prosecutors accused James and Jennifer Crumbley of buying a gun for their son, Ethan, that he used to carry out the Nov. 30 attack that killed four students and wounded another seven people.

Fictional legal experts in the episode also debate whether the parents or the teen was more responsible for the attack.

Superintendent Ken Weaver urged Oxford families to listen to trauma specialists and not watch the episode, as "such memories triggered by the storyline may overwhelm individuals and their ability to cope, setting backwards their recovery and healing process," he said.

If parents decide to watch the episode with their children, Weaver advised them to talk about how it affected them, their memories, their stress level and any feelings it may have provoked.

Although "Law and Order" reiterates before each episode that the show does not depict actual events or people, the similarities are too striking for some.

Oxford High School parent Jennifer Caddick told WXYZ that the episode was too soon and hits too close to home.

"They are profiting off of everybody around us suffering," Caddick told the news station. "I mean, the tragedy that took place. It’s too soon. It’s way too soon."

The episode first aired Thursday, nearly five months after the Oxford High School shootings. Ethan Crumbley, 15, faces 24 charges, including four counts of premeditated first-degree murder and terrorism.

Authorities also charged his parents with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to the shootings after they said the couple bought their son the gun and ignored disturbing warning signs leading up to the shooting.