Over one hundred 9-1-1 phone calls were made just before one o’clock p.m. EST on Tuesday after gunshots were heard ringing throughout Oxford High School in Oxford Township in Michigan, a suburb only 35 miles outside of Detriot.
Three students were reported dead, and six have been injured, one of them included a teacher. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the suspect, a fifteen-year-old sophomore student, has been taken into custody.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael McCabe said that the suspect did not resist arrest when officers arrived minutes after reports were made. After the school went into lockdown, students were released around two o’clock p.m. Ambulances and emergency personnel were on the scene to help those injured.
Oxford High School students interviewed by reporters describe the harrowing incident. Initially, they assumed it was a fire drill. However, when they realized it was an active shooting situation, they were struck with fear. The teachers locked and barricaded the doors and covered the windows.
Abby Hodder, a fifteen-year-old sophomore, was in chemistry class when the incident occurred.
My teacher kind of ran out and was scrambling…and the next thing I knew, I saw he was pushing tables…It’s part of school protocol to barricade, so we all knew, barricade, barricade down. And we all started pushing tables,” said the teen.
During a press conference, Tim Throne, Oxford’s Superintendent, spoke about the event. “You can certainly pray for our families here in Oxford and our students…I’m learning information [in] real-time just as you all are.”
Throne also said that the school does not have metal detectors, and there were no discussions of having them in the past.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer visited the high school and called the event “a parent’s worse nightmare.”
The suspect’s identity has yet to be revealed.