A teacher in Michigan has been suspended after allegedly telling students how he would have carried out the Oxford High School shooting, which left four dead last week.
The unnamed high school teacher was placed on leave by Hopkins High School in Allegan County after reports arose that he made comments about physical violence and weapons in multiple classrooms, local news outlet and CBS affiliate WWMT reports.
"Students were subjected to intensive comments regarding violence and other concerning statements. These comments took place in multiple class periods by a single teacher," said Superintendent Gary Wood in a letter to parents obtained by MLive.com.
One parent described how the teacher told her child and their class on Wednesday that he would have created a distraction if he was the assailant.
"That he would’ve pulled a smoke detector, so that he could create a distraction, in order to carry out his hitlist and kill the people that he would need to,” the parent told WWMT. "It was gut-wrenching devastation that a grown adult would mentally harm our children this way."
"The things that he said, how he would've committed the act differently, with details, is extremely scary," the concerned mom added.
Hopkins High School principal Ken Szczepanski said that the school had asked teachers to talk to students about the Oxford shooting which happened on Tuesday afternoon. Teachers were supposed to talk sensitively to students about the incident, in which, 15-year-old suspect Ethan Crumbley has been charged for opening fire on his classmates at Oxford High School.
However, Szczepanski said that the teacher's comments were "insensitive" and "off-script", veering away from the reassuring conversation that the school had planned.
After students told the principal that their teacher had been making inappropriate comments, the school opened an official inquiry into their behavior.
They also notified Michigan State Police, who have since taken over the investigation
At least 60 Michigan schools closed last week after a slew of copycat threats emerged in the wake of the Oxford High School shooting, Insider reports. Despite the worrying comments made by a member of their own faculty, Hopkins High School has remained open.
"We would not have been in school today had we not felt that it was a safe environment for these students," said Szczepanski.
