Michigan Court of Appeals hears arguments for Oxford High School shooting civil case to be reinstated

(WWJ) — Arguments were heard Wednesday in the Michigan Court of Appeals as attorneys representing the families of the Oxford High School shooting victims look to have their civil case returned to Oakland County Circuit Court.

On behalf of the victims and their families, Ven Johnson Law filed a number of lawsuits against the Oxford Community School District in connection with the Nov. 30, 2021 shooting that killed four students and left several other students and a teacher wounded.

The lawsuits accused the district and several school employees of negligence, gross negligence and violating the Child Protection Law, among other allegations.

In March 2023 Judge Mary Ellen Brennan ruled that Oxford was protected governmental immunity and dismissed the lawsuits.

But attorney Chris Desmond told WWJ’s Luke Sloan he offered new evidence during Wednesday’s hearing that wasn’t considered in Brennan’s ruling — including the 572- Guidepost Solutions investigative report that found the shooting could’ve been avoided.

“We do have the benefit of the Guidepost report now, which is an extremely thorough investigation, despite the fact that many of our defendants wouldn’t participate nor cooperate in that investigation,” Desmond said.

“The circuit failed to consider all of the evidence that it’s obligated to consider under our law. But an additional argument was, since the time that we initially argued this case in the circuit court, we do have the benefit of the Guidepost report.”

Ven Johnson said the families of Tate Myre, Justin Shilling, Keegan Gregory and others represented by the firm are “cautiously optimistic” the appeal will be successful and the case will head back to trial.

“We thought Chris did a phenomenal job of arguing today and made really strong points. The Michigan Court of Appeals panel was clearly paying very close attention to what he was saying and we’re hopeful that they’ll do the right thing,” Johnson said.

The attorneys don’t expect a ruling on the appeal will be reached for at least a couple months.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has posted a video to YouTube showing Wednesday’s arguments.

Wednesday’s hearing came the same day that at least four people were killed and at least nine others were injured in a school shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, about 45 miles northeast of Atlanta.