OXFORD, Mich. – A report released Monday afternoon outlined what went wrong during the response to the Oxford High School shooting.
Four students were killed and seven other people were injured when a student fired gunshots in the hallways of the high school on Nov. 30, 2021.
The shooter has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and both of his parents were convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
A new 275-page report was released on Monday afternoon. Independent investigators from Guidepost Solutions found that there was “no neglect or dereliction of duty.”
The report did flag some breakdowns in communication and training:
- A delay in establishing incident command, causing confusion over resources.
- Poor communication between agencies and little joint training.
- No reunification plan between deputies and school staff members.
- Families left without adequate support or information.
This report followed a 2023 security report from Guidepost Solutions, which deemed that Oxford’s current safety practices were “satisfactory.”
“A key finding of the Guidepost report concluded there was nothing in our response that could have saved the lives of the four students tragically lost that day. It also affirmed that our deputies and first responders demonstrated courage and dedication under extreme conditions and further found no evidence of neglect or dereliction of duty on their part.
We will be carefully reviewing the report’s 257 pages, which we just received today. We constantly seek ways to improve, and many of the training and protocol recommendations – including the expansion of our rescue task force – were already in progress prior to this report. To restate this clearly, we will take an honest look at this report to address any gaps we see in our response and look to be better trained and better prepared moving forward.
While we haven’t taken a complete critical look at the report yet, we have noticed, and we strongly disagree with several conclusions that either omit critical facts or are simply incorrect. For example, the report suggested there was a delay in establishing an incident commander. In reality, a ‘hall boss’ assumed command immediately as the first command officer on scene, later
transitioning to a lieutenant as incident commander. The report also cited a delay in fire dispatch, when in fact the fire department was dispatched precisely according to its established protocols – protocols they still use today
It is also important to stress that even if fire personnel had arrived before law enforcement, the report itself concluded that nothing could have altered the tragic loss of those four students. Our response time was less than half the national average, and our entry into the building was also less than half the national average. Within two minutes and 20 seconds of arrival, our deputies confronted the suspect and took him into custody while he still had 18 rounds of ammunition. We firmly believe lives were saved that day because of our team’s rapid and decisive actions.”
Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and Undersheriff Timothy Willis
“This report was a necessity to help us all better understand how our emergency services performed on this horrific day. As many charged into supporting some of our most vulnerable, there are always things that can be improved, especially under stressful situations, and this report helps outline those areas.
We should not argue about the recommendations in this report, but study them, discuss them and implement what we can to improve Oakland County and all of our communities. I am committed to support efforts within and outside of the County, such as a new state-of-the-art training center for all of our first responders within our County.”
Commissioner Michael Spisz (R-Oxford)
“This is the most objective and comprehensive after action report of its kind, and does exactly what it was supposed to do: conduct a detailed review of the multi-jurisdictional response to that tragic day, identify any deficiencies no matter how small, and make recommendations on how all law enforcement and emergency response agencies and others can work better together.
It also confirms our first responders displayed courage and did their job well. Going forward we will implement recommendations that will improve coordination, communication and training. This report is not just blueprint for improvement in Oakland County, I believe it will become a tool to help communities all across the country.”
Chair David T. Woodward (D-Royal Oak)
Full report
You can view the full report below.