A 43-year-old man was identified as the person who killed three at Michigan State University (MSU) on Feb. 13.
Anthony McRae, 43, carried out the shootings at the school, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Some students were shot inside Berkey Hall. McRae then went to the MSU Union building nearby and kept shooting, officials told a briefing.
The first call to police about shots being fired came in shortly before 8:30 p.m.
The suspect was located in Lansing, off campus, based on a tip. McRae killed himself, according to law enforcement.
Three students were killed and five others were left injured.
The injured students were all in critical condition on Tuesday morning.
Law enforcement officials said they have not pinpointed a motive. They said McRae has no affiliation with the university.
“I know everybody wants to know what the motive is. We don’t have an answer,” Chris Rozman, interim deputy police chief for the school, told reporters.
Pleaded Guilty to Gun Charge
McRae was charged after admitting to having a gun on him without a permit during an encounter with a police officer at approximately 1:30 a.m. on June 7, 2019, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.McRae said he took the gun with him as he went to the store to buy cigarettes because he feared for his safety. According to court documents, McRae said he was attempting to get a concealed carry permit.
McRae was charged with a felony. But prosecutors in Ingham County later added a misdemeanor, possession of a loaded firearm in or upon a vehicle. McRae ended up pleading guilty to the latter, and the felony was dismissed. McRae relinquished the gun as part of the plea deal.
John DeWane, the Ingham County prosecutor, in a statement defended how the situation unfolded.
The case went through a pre-sentence investigation that included a sentence guideline score, DeWane said. The score provides a sentence recommendation.
“Even if he were convicted by a jury of the original charge, Anthony McRae would not have been recommended for a jail or prison sentence. The sentencing guideline score would have been the same if he had been convicted of either the original charge (Carrying a Concealed Weapon) or the offense for which he was convicted (carrying a firearm in a vehicle),” DeWane said, calling for improved laws to address “gun violence in this state.”
McRae was placed on probation on Oct. 24, 2019, and discharged on May 14, 2021.
“He did not have any issues while on probation and never had a positive drug test,” a Department of Corrections spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.
The sister said her brother was sorrowful following their mother’s death and lived in shelters in various cities.
She had not seen him since their mother’s funeral in 2020.
“I’m just so sorry about the innocent people that got killed,” she said.
Update on Victims
Dr. Denny Martin, interim president and chief medical officer at the Edward W. Sparrow Hospital, told reporters that four of the five victims who were transported to the hospital required surgery. All five are in critical condition.Three other students were found dead at the scene, law enforcement said.
Two of the dead were graduates of separate high schools in the Grosse Pointe district in suburban Detroit, the superintendent said. Their names were not immediately released. The third was identified as Alexandria Verner, a graduate of Clawson High School, also in the Detroit area.
“If you knew her, you loved her and we will forever remember the lasting impact she has had on all of us,” Clawson Superintendent Billy Shellenbarger said in an email to families.
Michigan State has about 50,000 students, including 19,000 who live on campus. As hundreds of officers scoured the campus, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, students hid where they could Monday night.
A large police presence was in McRae’s Lansing neighborhood overnight. Suzanne Shook said she has lived a block away from McRae for about a year.
“We never spoke to him,” Shook said. ”When he would be walking or riding his bike, he was always straightforward and wouldn’t look at anybody.”
Ted Zimbo said he was walking to his dorm when he encountered a woman with a “ton of blood on her.”
“She told me, ‘Someone came in our classroom and started shooting,’” Zimbo said. “Her hands were completely covered in blood. It was on her pants and her shoes. She said, ‘It’s my friend’s blood.’”
Zimbo said the woman left to find a friend’s car while he returned to his SUV and threw a blanket over himself to hide for three hours.
