President Speaks of ‘Unimaginable Grief’ After Student Kills Three at Michigan School

OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Three students were killed and eight people were wounded in an attack by a student at a Michigan high school Tuesday afternoon.

According to Oakland County, Michigan, Undersheriff Mike McCabe, two of the wounded were undergoing surgery as of 5 p.m. Tuesday and the six others were in stable condition. 

He identified the three students who were killed as a 16-year-old boy and two girls, ages 14 and 17.

During a news conference, McCabe said deputies took the 15-year-old shooting suspect into custody without incident within five minutes of arriving at the school. 

He said the suspect’s parents visited him where he’s being held and advised their son not to talk to investigators. McCabe also said as far as authorities know right now, the alleged shooter had no prior run-ins with law enforcement.

The incident took place shortly before 1 p.m. at the Oxford High School in Oxford Township, a community of about 22,000 people roughly 30 miles north of Detroit.

President Biden, who was traveling in Minnesota this afternoon, was told of the shootings upon his arrival at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.

Speaking to reporters after a short drive to the Dakota County Technical College in  Rosemont, Minnesota, Biden said his “heart goes out to the families enduring the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one.”

The president said the details he knew of the incident were sketchy as he spoke “but you know, that whole community has got to be in a state of shock right now.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ordered U.S. and Michigan flags within the State Capitol Complex and upon all public buildings and grounds across the state of Michigan to be lowered to half-staff immediately and remain that way until further notice to honor and remember the shooting victims. 

“My heart breaks for the students, teachers, staff and families of Oxford High School,” Gov. Whitmer said. 

“The death of multiple students and the shooting of many others, including a teacher, is horrific,” she continued. “I want to thank the first responders on the ground working hard to keep people safe as law enforcement officials investigate this shooting and get the community the help it needs right now. Our state is in mourning alongside the parents who had their children taken from them today and the entire community in Oxford.”  

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