James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the suspect in a school shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, were found and arrested in Detroit early Saturday and were apprehended at around 1.45am ET.
U.S. Marshals sent out wanted posters for the Crumbleys with a reward of $10,000 for each parent on Friday after the couple failed to appear for their arraignment by video. Earlier, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced she was charging them with four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard offered strong criticism of McDonald over the Crumbleys' evading custody during an appearance on CNN on Friday, citing a lack of communication from the prosecutor's office.
The couple was arrested around two hours after a member of the public spotted their vehicle and called the police. Descriptions of the vehicle and the registration plate had featured in a number of local media reports.
Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said: "Yes, they are both in custody and will be on the way to the Oakland County Jail soon."
"Kudos to Detroit PD and all the other agencies that assisted," he said.
On Friday, McCabe told the press that Fugitive Apprehension Team officers were searching for the Crumbleys. They began that search around the mid-afternoon and were later joined by U.S. Marshals, who announced their involvement via their Twitter page.
"The US Marshals have adopted the case of the search for James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the accused Oxford HS (Mich.) shooter. The USMS Detroit Fugitive Apprehension team is working in conjunction with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office on the search," the U.S. Marshals tweeted.
The US Marshals have adopted the case of the search for James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of the accused Oxford HS (Mich.) shooter. The USMS Detroit Fugitive Apprehension team is working in conjunction with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office on the search.
— U.S. Marshals (@USMarshalsHQ) December 3, 2021
James and Jennifer Crumbley's son, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and terrorism, among other charges, in the shooting that left four students dead.
The Crumbleys' failure to appear for their arraignment and the subsequent search has led to criticism directed at prosecutors and police, while both Sheriff Bouchard and Undersheriff McCabe appeared to criticize the prosecutor's office on Friday.
Bouchard told CNN's Don Lemon: "It's like, let's call a prosecutor a quarterback for a moment, and you just throw the football down in the end zone without telling the receiver where to go or that it's coming."
"We did not know these charges," Bouchard said.
McCabe said on Friday: "We didn't even know they had been charged with anything until we were informed this morning by the media."
McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor, also spoke to Don Lemon on Friday and defended the press conference announcing charges against the Crumbleys, saying she was under the impression that law enforcement knew the couple's location and that her office was in constant contact with the detectives working on the case.
"We said, 'Do you have eyes on them?' and there was indication that they had some pretty good ideas about where they were, and we got updates about where a cell phone was pinging," McDonald.
McCabe pushed back on that claim on Friday night, however, saying that his department did not indicate to the prosecutor's office that it had "eyes" on the Crumbleys.
Update 12/4/21 04.28a.m. E.T.: This article was updated to include more information.
