Accused teen shooter's struggles revealed in mum's bizarre letter to Trump

The mum of the teenage boy who allegedly killed four students at his Michigan high school earlier this week spoke of the 15-year-old’s “struggles” in a strange letter to former US president Donald Trump.

Ethan Crumbley allegedly emerged from a bathroom at Oxford High School on Tuesday with his dad’s semi-automatic handgun and fired at students while moving down the hallway, police say.

Four students, aged between 14 and 17, were killed and another seven, including a teacher, were injured. Ethan has been charged with murder and terrorism.

It has since emerged Ethan’s mum Jennifer penned a letter mentioning her son’s problems in school to then-president Trump just after he was elected in 2016 and posted it to her blog.

The lengthy note suggested school trouble, financial struggles and resentments — but also hope for the future.

In it she urged Trump to “stop common core” — a set of educational standards for maths and English.

“My son struggles daily and my teachers tell me they hate teaching it but the (sic) HAVE to,” she wrote.

“Their pay depends on these stupid f***ing test scores. I have to pay for a tutor, why? Because I can’t figure out 4th grade math. I used to be good at math.

“I can’t afford a tutor, in fact I sacrifice car insurance to make sure my son gets a good education and hopefully succeeds in life."

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Ms Crumbley goes on to say her parents teach at a school where most students “come from illegal immigrant parents”.

“They don’t care about learning and threaten to kill my mom for caring about their grades,” she wrote.

“Do you realise Mr. Trump that they get free tutors, free tablets from our government so they can succeed.

“Why can't my son get those things, do we as hard working Americans not deserve that too?”

In the letter, Ms Crumbley also celebrated her right to own a gun, referring to her job as a real estate agent.

The mum said she wanted to vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, but was put off by her “evil cold” voice and demeanour.

“…I knew in the deepest of my gut that I could not let this woman have control over my son’s future,” she wrote.

Ms Crumbley described herself as a feminist who values “equality of the LGBT community” and said she was “scared s***less” when circling Trump’s name on the ballot.

“You made the famous ‘grab them in the p***y’ comment, did it offend me? No. I say things all the time that people take the wrong way, do I mean them, not always,” she said before telling the former president she hopes he “uncovers the cure for cancer”.

The self-described realtor ends the letter by thanking Trump “from the bottom” of her heart.

“Yours truly, a hard-working middle class law abiding citizen who is sick of getting f***ed in the a** and would rather be grabbed by the p***y," she said.

Questions still surround motive for school shooting

Oakland County authorities have not offered a motive for the deadly attack, but did reveal the 15-year-old alleged shooter's parents were called to the school just hours prior to discuss “behaviour in the classroom that was concerning”.

The teen remained in school, where investigators said they believed the gun was already stashed.

Ethan has been charged as an adult with two dozen crimes, including murder, attempted murder and terrorism causing death.

During his arraignment this week, the teen replied, “Yes, I do”, when asked if he understood the charges.

Defence attorney Scott Kozak entered a plea of not guilty.

Prosecutor Karen McDonald said the shooting was premeditated, based on a “mountain of digital evidence” against Ethan.

“This was not just an impulsive act,” Ms McDonald said.

Sheriff’s Lieutenant Tim Willis told a judge Ethan recorded a video the night before the violence in which he discussed killing students.

On Thursday, Ms McDonald repeated her criticism of the teen's parents, saying their actions went “far beyond negligence” and they could possibly face charges of their own.

“The parents were the only individuals in the position to know the access to weapons,” the prosecutor said.

The gun “seems to have been just freely available to that individual”.

With AP

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