The following article contains descriptions of mass shootings. Linked sources may contain graphic videos or images of victims, in addition to graphic descriptions of the events. The DU Health & Counseling Center is available to provide support should this topic cause stress or anxiety.
On Monday night, a gunman opened fire at Michigan State University, killing three students and injuring five others who all remain in critical condition. Two of the victims were identified by police on Tuesday morning as Brian Fraser, a sophomore from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson, Michigan. The third victim was identified late Tuesday night as Arielle Diamond Anderson, a 19 year-old from Harper Woods, Michigan.
Initial reports of shots fired came in to campus police at approximately 8:18 p.m. from Berkley Hall on the north end of campus. Officers responded within minutes, where they located several shooting victims, receiving further reports of a shooter in the MSU Student Union.
During the initial response, campus police sent text alerts to students telling them to “secure in place immediately and to Run, hide, fight.” The campus shelter-in-place order was lifted after midnight on Tuesday. Given the active crime scene investigations, Michigan State canceled classes on Tuesday and Wednesday.
MSU Police Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman identified the gunman as Anthony McRae. He was not part of the university community and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound following the shooting. McRae was known to authorities, having been arrested in June 2019 in Lansing for carrying a handgun without a concealed-carry permit.
Chief Rozman credited a caller’s tip for leading authorities to the suspect. Surveillance footage of Bailey Hall, where McRae first began the shooting spree, first captured the suspect at approximately 11:00 p.m. These images were dispersed across social media channels at 11:18 p.m and McRae was found at approximately 11:35 p.m deceased with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The FBI, state officials and local police have opened an investigation into the shooting. An FBI spokesman, however, indicated this process could take several weeks as the gunman’s motives remained unclear.
