Michigan school officials had authority to search Oxford shooting suspect's locker, backpack, but didn't: prosecutor

• Oxford High School officials had the authority to search the shooting suspect's locker and backpack, but didn't, a prosecutor said.
• Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald made the comments during a CNN interview.

Officials at Michigan's Oxford High School, where a deadly shooting unfolded last week, had the legal authority to search the shooting suspect's locker and backpack before the incident, but didn't, the local prosecutor said Monday.

"There was absolutely evidence to suggest that there was an indication [the shooting suspect] might harm somebody and even kill somebody," Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald told CNN.

McDonald did not say why a search of the 15-year-old student suspect's locker and backpack was never conducted prior to last week's shooting.

"We don't know exactly if that weapon was in his bag, where it was, we just know it was in the school and he had access to it," McDonald said.

When asked by CNN's Brianna Keilar whether potential charges have been ruled out against any school officials, McDonald replied, "It's under investigation, so no, we haven't ruled out charging anyone."

Four students were fatally shot and seven others were wounded during the shooting at Oxford High School on November 30.

The weapon the shooting suspect is accused of using in the rampage was given to him as an early Christmas gift by his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who have since been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to the shooting, McDonald has said.

The teen suspect has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and a terrorism-related charge.

The Crumbley's had attended a meeting on the morning of the shooting with school administrators regarding their son's "concerning" behavior, police said last week.

"I'm sympathetic to parents, my husband and I have raised five children," McDonald said. "I'm certainly not suggesting that parents should be criminally prosecuted for any bad act of a child. But in this case, you can't possibly look at their actions and say that they didn't have reason to believe that there was real concern about a violent act."

Oxford High School officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider on Monday.