The world in brief | The Economist
Matthew Perez
Updated on March 22, 2026
On Tuesday the father of a boy who opened fire at a high school in Michigan in 2021 goes on trial for involuntary manslaughter (he denies the charges). James Crumbley bought Ethan, 15 at the time, a Sig Sauer SP2022 9mm semi-automatic handgun four days before he used it to kill four students and wound seven others, including a teacher.
On the day of the shooting Mr Crumbley and his wife Jennifer were summoned to the school after a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a bullet and a wounded person on Ethan’s desk. The couple refused to take him home. He murdered schoolmates hours later.
In December, Ethan was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Last month, in the first lawsuit holding a parent accountable for a child’s crime, Jennifer was found guilty of the charges her husband now faces. Mr Crumbley’s defence partly hinges on whether Ethan’s diary entry suggesting his father had hidden the gun will be admissible in court.
