Oxford HS Goes Into Lockdown After 'Swatting' Call: Sheriff

OXFORD, MI — Oxford High School in Oxford Township was placed on lockdown Thursday morning after what police believe was a "swatting" call, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

Officials said an unknown caller from the Netherlands told school officials at 11:45 a.m. Thursday morning that there was a person in a bathroom with an AK-47-type automatic rifle and a pipe bomb.

The caller said the person planned to shoot up the school and then detonate the bomb, according to the sheriff's office.

The high school was placed on lockdown while officers searched the building, according to the sheriff's office.

Officers found no threat and determined the call was a bogus threat of violence at the school, according to the sheriff's office.

"Every threat will be fully investigated, and we will always seek to hold the responsible accountable," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. "We have even worked with partners in Europe to prosecute people in the past."

Officials urged parents to not go to the school, but they can pick up their students at the Meijer if they reached out to them, according to a report from Fox 2.

A swatting call is when someone makes a bogus threat of violence to get as many officials to rush to a scene as possible.

Thursday's bogus threat comes nearly three years to when four students were gunned down at the high school on Nov. 30, 2021. Students were also evacuated to that Meijer store during the 2021 shooting.

The shooter, Ethan Crumbley, who is now 18, initially pleaded guilty to the shooting and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has since appealed his conviction and wants a new sentence. An Oakland County judge ruled last week that provisions of his appeal violate court rules.

Ethan's parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley were each found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting after prosecutors said they ignored disturbing warning signs from their son leading up to the deadly shooting.

The four students killed in the shooting were 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 17-year-old Justin Shilling.