Artist linked to parents of Michigan school shooter questioned by police

[December 07, 2021]  By Dan Whitcomb

(Reuters) - Detectives on Monday questioned an artist linked to the Detroit studio where the parents of a 15-year-old accused Michigan school shooter were arrested after a manhunt, local law enforcement officials said.

Andrzej Sikora, 65, was not arrested after a two-hour interview, the Oakland County Sheriff's Department said in a statement, adding that detectives searched his home and seized several digital devices.

"The issue for Detectives is what did Sikora know and

when did he know it," the sheriff's department said.

Ethan Crumbley, 15, was taken into custody last week after a shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Oakland County, some 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Detroit. He is being held without bail and charged as an adult in the attack, the deadliest U.S. school shooting of 2021.

Four students were slain and seven other people, including a teacher, were wounded.

Police, FBI agents and the U.S. Marshals Service began searching for the boy's parents, James Crumbley, 45, and Jennifer Crumbley, 43, after Oakland County prosecutors announced manslaughter charges against the couple.

They are accused of purchasing the handgun for their son as an early Christmas present and then ignoring warning signs that he was planning a shooting at the high school.

Thousands from the community of Oxford, Michigan gathered Friday for a vigil to remember the students killed after a deadly shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford, Michigan, north of Detroit, U.S., December 3, 2021. REUTERS/Seth Herald

Detroit Police Chief James White told reporters that the couple was found on Saturday hiding in a commercial building on the city's east side, the site of Sikora's art studio. White said they had not broken into the building, but had been let in by someone with access.

An attorney representing Sikora, Clarence Dass, has said that his client "maintains his innocence throughout this process and is fully cooperating with law enforcement to assist in their investigation.”

The attorney, who has said that Sikora contacted police after the Crumbleys' arrest, was present for his interrogation.

James and Jennifer Crumbley both pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter at an arraignment on Saturday and were ordered held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

An attorney for the Crumbleys has said the couple were not attempting to flee law enforcement and had planned to turn themselves in.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb. Editing by Gerry Doyle)

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