“Lots of gun owners say, ‘Absolutely — if you’re not going to store your weapon safely, if you’re not going to be responsible with it, you should b
“Lots of gun owners say, ‘Absolutely — if you’re not going to store your weapon safely, if you’re not going to be responsible with it, you should be held accountable,’” she said. “I think this just goes so far beyond politics, if we are parents.”
Ms. McDonald said she is not thinking about higher office, but there has already been some criticism of her televised appearances.
Michael Bouchard, the Oakland County sheriff, suggested that Ms. McDonald acted prematurely in publicizing the charges against the Crumbleys — before his office was even notified — giving the parents time to flee. The F.B.I. and U.S. Marshals fugitive team were called in and apprehended the couple early the next morning in a Detroit warehouse.
Ms. McDonald, who said she gave the sheriff’s office adequate warning of the charges, said that she has patched things up with Mr. Bouchard, the only Republican holding a major elective office in Oakland County, where Democrats have dominated in recent years.
In a statement on Friday, Mr. Bouchard cited a “disconnect” between senior prosecutors and investigators that has been resolved. But Rocky Raczkowski, the Oakland County Republican chairman, said that by announcing charges against the parents before their arrest, Ms. McDonald had created confusion.
“It’s becoming a soap opera, parents’ flight risk,” Mr. Raczkowski said, “instead of run properly like a well-oiled machine. It took away from the story of the grief, it cost money, it took away police resources, but also most important, it took away from the focus, what went wrong, what went right.”
www.nytimes.com