OXFORD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Three parents who lost their children in the deadly mass shooting at Oxford High School in November 2021 are speaking out to demand the accountability they say still hasn’t been achieved.
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I sat down with them today as they call for a complete state-run investigation now being requested by the school board.
Inside the Oxford Resiliency Center, I sat with Steve St. Juliana, Buck Myre, and Craig Shilling, three fathers whose children were killed at Oxford High in November 2021.
They tell me a new school board has now asked the state to finally do what no one else has.
“They hear Oxford and remember criminal trials of the shooter and parents,” says Steve St. Juliana, father of Hana St. Juliana. “In actuality, there has been no investigation of the school by a law enforcement agency.”
“The majority of the unknown is with the school, who has governmental immunity. They haven’t had a deep dive,” says Justin Schilling’s father Craig.
In part of a statement to me, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald doubling down, saying, “I continue to support the Oxford parents in their repeated requests for an independent investigation. I fully support the parents' request for the Governor and Attorney General to do so.”
For Tate Myre’s father Buck, it comes down to this, “The truth. 4 kids killed. 7 others shot. A whole school terrorized. People think this was investigated. A Guidepost report happened but didn’t have subpoena power. There hasn’t been a full state-led investigation.”
I asked state lawmaker Rosemary Byer for her take.
“The AG has volunteered (to form a task force) and I think she would do it again,” the Oxford Democrat says.
While the A.G. was not available for an interview, her office did email me to say, “The Department of Attorney General has long believed that the people of Oxford deserve transparency into the tragic events of November 30, 2021, and what led to that point. The school board had previously declined our numerous offers to provide a full and complete investigation. Should they reach out, we are happy to discuss this matter further with them.”
Steve tells me he and other families are dedicated to seeing a thorough review done to answer exactly what took place before, during, and after the tragedy.
“You had the Sheriff doing the criminal investigation, of the shooter and parents but not of the school. No true after-action report done? That’s now going to be addressed,” he says.
I’ve also reached out to the governor’s office and school board to determine where they stand on a formal request being made and will continue tracking what happens.
