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  4. The person who called Oxford High School students 'bro' while trying to enter a classroom was likely an officer trying to put them at ease, sheriff says

The person who called Oxford High School students 'bro' while trying to enter a classroom was likely an officer trying to put them at ease, sheriff says

Sinéad Baker   

The person who called Oxford High School students 'bro' while trying to enter a classroom was likely an officer trying to put them at ease, sheriff says
International2 min read
  • A video shows someone who said they were an officer ask to enter a room during the Oxford shooting.
  • In the video, students became suspicious after that person called them "bro."

The person captured on video calling students "bro" while trying to enter a classroom during the Oxford, Michigan, school shooting was not the gunman but likely an officer trying to calm the teenagers, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on Wednesday.

A gunman killed four students at Oxford High School on Tuesday. A 15-year-old sophomore has been named as the suspect.

Video footage published on Tuesday showed students in a classroom speaking to a person at the door who said: "Sheriff's office. It's safe to come out."

As students expressed skepticism, the person was heard saying, "Come to the door and look at my badge, bro."

This response appeared to make the students warier. One student can be heard saying in the video: "He said 'bro.' Red flag." The students were then seen escaping through the window.

Watch the video here:

At a Wednesday press conference, Bouchard said the person behind the door was not the shooter.

"I want to clear up some of the incorrect information that keeps circulating. Social media keeps ginning up a great deal of false information," he said.

"A video was disseminated rather widely that showed the students in a classroom and depicted someone knocking on the door. And pretty much the allegation was that that was the suspect. We've now been able to determine that was not the suspect.

"More than likely it was one of our plainclothes detectives, and he may have been talking 'bro' in a conversational manner to try and bring them down from the crisis to say: 'Come on, bro, let's get out of the classroom. Let's get you outside.' That kind of comment."

Bouchard also said the shooter never knocked on a door.

Watch the sheriff speak here:

Authorities on Wednesday identified 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, a student at the school, as a suspect in the shooting.

The four students killed were identified as Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; and Justin Shilling, 17.

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