BEND, Ore. (KPTV) – Students and their families are returning to Silver Rail Elementary School a month after an Oct. 15 shooting that killed three students and a teacher and injured another student and a teacher. The investigation into the cause of the shooting is ongoing and no charges have yet been filed.
Some people wonder what justice looks like in this case. With the shooter dead, could his mother face criminal charges?
Other states have parental responsibility laws
Parents have faced criminal charges in several recent cases in which their child committed a school shooting. Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Mexico each have specific laws that address this scenario. This is not the case in Oregon.
In December 2024, a 15-year-old entered a private school in Madison, Wisconsin with two guns. Two people were killed and six were injured. The shooter’s father is accused of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a minor.
In Michigan, James and Jennifer Crumbley were sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter for failing to secure the handgun used by their son, who killed four people at his high school.
Prosecutors across the country have used various state laws to hold parents of minor children criminally responsible after school shootings.
What Oregon law says
Steven Sherlag, a defense attorney who specializes in gun crimes in Oregon, said no state law speaks directly to parents accused of a crime committed by their child.
“It’s a complex question: Is there a direct law that specifically addresses this circumstance? There isn’t,” Sherlag said.
He added that doesn’t mean parents can’t face charges.
“Oregon has a storage law that requires guns to be stored in a reasonable manner, with a trigger lock or a gun lock or in a gun safe or gun room, things like that,” Sherlag said. “So mom could face charges for that, but they’re not criminal charges. It would only be a civil penalty.”
If it turns out that the gun was not stored properly at home, the penalty could be a fine, not jail time.
Sherlag said that, depending on the circumstances, other laws could lead to a charge of criminally negligent homicide or second-degree manslaughter. He said these charges have a higher bar to prove in court.
“How aware was the mother of specific issues? I think that’s what’s important here,” Sherlag said.
What prosecutors might look at
Sherlag said the key issue is the mother’s conscience.
He said prosecutors are reviewing the shooter’s juvenile court record and all calls for service at the home address.
According to records received by FOX 12 through a Freedom of Information Act request, there were several calls for service to the shooter’s home address. In two of those cases, the shooter is listed as an assault victim. One was from the mother’s boyfriend and the other from her sister’s friend.
Documents also show the shooter was bullied at school. No charges have been filed against those accused of hitting the shooter.
These are factors prosecutors could consider in determining whether the mother should have done anything differently.
“People would love to see Mom held accountable, I’m sure, but if Mom didn’t know and wasn’t ‘willfully blind’ to the things she should have taken care of or paid attention to, then Mom is not criminally guilty,” Sherlag said.
Civil court remains an option
Sherlag said even if the mother is not held criminally responsible, civil court remains an option. He said he wouldn’t be surprised to see legal action against her soon.
At least one family has hired lawyers. No lawsuit has been filed.
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