Sheriff Bouchard vows to hold perpetrators accountable

By Jim Newell

Review Editor

Lake Orion was among three local school districts receiving phone calls threatening violence on Friday, the Oakland Sheriff’s Office said.

While none of the threats proved to be credible, Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard said his office would investigate and hold the perpetrators criminally liable.

“We will put every necessary resource to investigating threats against any school, business or house of worship,” Bouchard said. “We have a pending request before the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for additional personnel to investigate threats and coordinate a response across the county.”

Threats were also made against Brandon and Oxford high schools and detectives believe the calls came from Florida and New York state area codes, police said.

Extra patrols were assigned to Oxford High School after the calls were made. During that investigation, detectives learned Lake Orion and Brandon high schools were also victims of similar harassing calls, the sheriff’s office reported.

“We will put every necessary resource to investigating threats against any school, business or house of worship,” Bouchard said. “We have a pending request before the Oakland County Board of Commissioners for additional personnel to investigate threats and coordinate a response across the county.”

Lake Orion High School

The sheriff’s office did not release any information about the phone calls to Lake Orion.

A source within Lake Orion schools said the school had a “Code Yellow” after the calls were received.

Oxford High School phone calls

Oxford received calls shortly before noon on April 8 from a caller claiming to be Ethan Crumbley, the former Oxford student charged with multiple felonies including first-degree murder in the Nov. 30 school shooting, the sheriff’s office said.

Crumbley is being held without bond in the Oakland County Jail while awaiting trial.

Using a phony British accent, the caller reportedly said he was depressed and was going to “shoot up the school” and “finish” the job he started.

In a second call, the caller faked an Indian accent and claimed he was going to shoot up the school. When asked for his location, the caller claimed to be in the school.

Juveniles could be heard laughing in the background. The school official who answered the call said law enforcement had been contacted, prompting the caller to hang up.

In a third call, answered by a sheriff’s school resource deputy, the caller “threatened to come and slap the deputy if anyone hung up on him. Juveniles could be heard laughing in the background,” Bouchard’s office said.

Brandon High School phone calls

A male caller “claimed there was a man in a black pickup truck in the parking lot with an AR-15 gun and he was going to shoot up the school,” police said.

Detectives called the number back and the person who answered claimed to be Nathan Crumbley. Detectives asked for the caller’s location so they could further investigate the claim, but the caller refused to provide their location.

Detectives confirmed the same number used to call Brandon was used to call Lake Orion.

“Any threats are taken very seriously, whether they intended to complete the act or not,” Bouchard said. “Every applicable charge will be sought to bring these perpetrators to justice. This is not a joke.”