A Michigan teenager has pleaded guilty to killing four pupils and wounding seven others in a high school shooting rampage.
Ethan Crumbley, 16, is being tried as an adult on terrorist and first-degree murder charges.
He was 15 when he opened fire at Oxford High School in November 2021, about 30 miles north of Detroit.
The gunman faces a possible life sentence without parole.
On Monday, Crumbley pleaded guilty in a Michigan court to 24 charges, including one count of terrorism, four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm.
The terrorism charge is an unusual one in US school shooting cases. Prosecutors said they brought the charge forward to acknowledge the impact the shooting rampage had on the community at large.
The gunman agreed that on 30 November 2021, he packed a handgun and ammunition in his backpack and brought it to school.
He then loaded the firearm in the bathroom before firing more than 30 shots at staff and students in the school hallway.
Four students were killed in the shooting rampage: Tate Myre, 16, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Hana St Juliana, 14, and Justin Shilling, 17. Six other students and a teacher were wounded.
Prosecutors have argued the attack was “absolutely pre-meditated”, saying Crumble had spoken about killing students the night before the shooting.
“This was not an impulsive act,” said Oakland Country prosecutor Karen McDonald in December 2021 when the charges were first announced.
The gunman’s parents, James, and Jennifer Crumbley, are also facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors have argued that they ignored warning signs of violence and did not store the gun their son used in a safe place. They have both pleaded not guilty.
Crumbley used a semi-automatic handgun that his father purchased for him as a Christmas gift four days before the shooting.
The case appears to be the first in the US in which the parents of a young school shooter have also been charged.
Earlier this year, the gunman’s attorney said they would pursue an insanity defence. Instead, he entered a guilty plea.
Prosecutors said on Friday that no plea deals, reductions, or sentencing agreements were made in the case.
The gunman is expected to appear in court again in February 2023, where victims of the shooting will have an opportunity to deliver impact statements. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.