OXFORD, Mich. — After Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard reviewed videos of the Oxford High School shooting, he described on Wednesday the crime scene as brutal and cold-hearted.
Shell casings lay scattered, blood stained the hallway, classroom windows stood shattered and doors had been shot through.
"It was horrific. As a police officer, you see terrible, terrible things. It's coldhearted. Absolutely brutal and coldhearted," Bouchard said Wednesday standing outside the Oakland County school as investigators continued their search for evidence after a 15-year-old sophomore opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol, killing four students and wounding seven other people.
The fourth victim to die in Tuesday's shooting at Oxford High School was Justin Shilling. The 17-year-old died about 10 a.m. on Wednesday at McLaren Hospital in Pontiac, according to authorities.
Bouchard said the suspect can be seen on video leaving a school bathroom armed and walking down a school hallway where he began shooting at students and a teacher at close range randomly.
"Everything I saw the shooting was from the hallway and sometimes into the classrooms," Bouchard said.
Bouchard said the suspect appeared to shoot his victims at random and at very close range.
"Witnesses said he was tugging on doors. We know from visible evidence he shot through doors," Bouchard said.
In the span of five minutes, starting at 12:51 p.m., the suspect fired "15 to 20" shots from a Sig Sauer 9mm semi-automatic handgun.
Roughly 100 calls to 911 were made. Teachers, students and staff took cover in classrooms and some jumped out of first-floor windows. Then police arrived and the suspect surrendered.
Investigators found one 15-round clip at the scene, recovered another from the gun with seven rounds remaining when the suspect was arrested and are looking for a third.
Bouchard said his investigators found writings from the suspect at about 3 a.m. on Wednesday and are pouring over documents as they prepare a preliminary package to give to prosecutors. Bouchard said he wants the teen charged as an adult but the decision is up to Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald.
McDonald is expected to announce charges in the case at an afternoon press conference, her office said in a release.
Investigators have recovered photos of a weapon and a target and are reviewing them as part of the case, Bouchard said. The suspect has refused to speak to investigators. He is being held in Oakland County's Children's Village awaiting a hearing.
Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter said the teen was placed on a suicide watch Tuesday and was being checked on every 15 minutes.
Reports of the suspect being bullied are still being investigated and have yet to be substantiated, Bouchard said.
“We have us grasping at how could somebody do this, versus justification for doing this. That’s a big difference," Bouchard said.
"We can’t wrap our head around the incredible, cold-blooded murder of kids. And so we look for a why. There is no credible reasonable why. This was an evil act. And it appears to be random," Bouchard said.
Police also have identified Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Tate Myre, 16, as the other three students killed in the rampage. Myre, who played football at the high school, died in a patrol car as a deputy rushed him to a local hospital.
