Oxford school shooting – latest: Suspect ‘used gun his dad bought on Black Friday’ as chilling video emerges

Three students who witnessed the deadly shooting at Oxford High School on Tuesday shared their accounts with the New York Times.

They described the “boom, boom, boom” of the gun, silently cowering in the corner of a classroom and a “trail of blood” in the hallway.

Watch the interviews below:

Oxford High School officials sent a letter to parents dismissing the existence of safety threats on campus three weeks before Tuesday’s deadly shooting.

In the wake of the shooting, reports emerged that threats of violence had circulated among the student body in the weeks prior.

Those claims appear to be related to a vague letter administrators sent to parents on 12 November.

“We are aware of the numerous rumors that have been circulating throughout our building this week. We understand that has created some concern for students and parents,” the letter states.

“Please know that we have reviewed every concern shared with us and investigated all information provided. Some rumors have evolved from an incident last week, while others do not appear to have any connection. Student interpretations of social media posts and false information have exacerbated the overall concern.

“We want our parents and students to know there has been no threat to our building nor our students.”

The Independent’s Megan Sheets reports:

Critics of looser gun control laws in the US have compared the attack on the school in Oxford, Michigan, to the ongoing Supreme Court consideration of abortion rights.

Igor Volsky, the executive of director of the Guns Down America campaign group, admonished Republicans in Congress for discussing the “sanctity of life” and abortion restrictions as “news breaks of another school shooting” on Tuesday, adding: “Too bad that doesn’t apply to those killed by firearms.”

As did Connecticut senator Chris Murphy, who said he “turned the car around” on his way from work on Tuesday to address his colleagues, many of whom he accused of holding up America’s gun lobby and “lecturing us on the sanctity of life”.

Police were seen seizing a number of weapons – including some that appeared to be long guns – from the suspected shooter’s home in Oxford on Tuesday night.

The 15-year-old allegedly used a semi-automatic handgun in his shooting rampage earlier in the day. Cops believe the gun had been purchased by the suspect’s father on Black Friday last week.

The seizures at his home were made as investigators continue efforts to uncover the motive for the shooting.

Eight people – seven students and one teacher – were injured in Tuesday’s shooting at Oxford High School.

The seven students ranged in age from 14 to 17, officials said.

As of Tuesday night three students were in critical condition, including a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head, a 17-year-old girl who was shot in the chest, and a 14-year-old girl who was shot in the chest and neck. The younger girl was put on a ventilator and police said things are looking “very tough” for her.

A 14-year-old boy was in serious condition on Tuesday night, while three other students – a 17-year-old girl, 15-year-old boy, and 17-year-old boy – were in stable condition.

The 47-year-old teacher injured has already been discharged from the hospital.

None of the injured victims have been named publicly as of Tuesday morning.

The victims of the shooting that occurred on Tuesday have been identified as Tate Myre, 16, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and 14-year-old Hanna St Julian. Eight other students sustained injuries in the attack.

Seven other students, aged between 14 and 17, remained hospitalised with gunshot wounds, including a 14-year-old girl on ventilator after undergoing surgery. A teacher who received a graze wound to the shoulder was discharged from hospital.

Our reporter Alisha Rahaman Sarkar has the details.

The suspected shooter, a 15-year-old sophomore, was taken into custody by police in response to the incident at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, a community of 22,000 people 30 miles north of Detroit, and a semi-automatic handgun was recovered.

Oakland County undersheriff Mike McCabe said the suspect had not offered any resistance when he was apprehended – within five minutes of the first 911 call being received – and that a motive for the attack had not yet been established, the boy having invoked his right to an attorney and declined to speak to officers.

The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad explains everything we know about the shooting so far:

Students of Oxford High School have recalled grabbing scissors to defend themselves during the shooting that killed three of their classmates and injured eight more on Tuesday.

Aiden Page, a student at the school, said a bullet pierced one of the desks that he and other students had used to barricade the classroom door.

“We heard two gunshots and after that, my teacher ran into the room, locked it, we barricaded and then we covered the windows and hid,” said the student. “We grabbed calculators, we grabbed scissors just in case the shooter got in and we had to attack them.”

Our reporter Sravasti Dasgupta has the details.

Officials in Oakland County, Michigan, have said they are searching the mobile phone belonging to the 15-year-old suspect who was arrested on Tuesday.

The phone will be searched, along with the suspect’s social media history, in an effort to determine a motive for the attack on Oxford High School.

Three students were shot dead and eight wounded.

It comes after Mike Bouchard, the Oakland County sheriff, said the suspect shared pictures of a pistol that they suspected was used on Tuesday. It was allegedly bought by his father on Friday.

Michael G McCabe, the undersheriff, told CNN that a search warrant had been served on the suspect’s family home, and that items were retrieved. He also suggested the suspect, who has not been identified, could be charged as an adult, although that remains to be seen.

The college football team for Oxford High School has responded to the death of a 16-year-old, Tate Myer, who played for the side following Tuesday’s shooting.

Myer, the Oxford Wildcats said, “was a tremendous football player with the brightest of futures and was an even better young man off the field as he was on it.”

He is also the focus of a petition to rename the high school’s wildcat stadium in his honour. The campaign has already gained over 34,000 signatures.