What Do We Know About the Deadly Michigan State University Shooting?
© AP Photo / Al Goldis
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Just seven weeks into 2023, at least 67 mass shootings have already happened in the United States. The number has increased sharply in recent years, prompting calls for new action to make firearms access harder - calls met with intransigent opposition by gun ownership advocates who view it as an inalienable right.
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, another mass shooting unfolded in East Lansing, Michigan, on one of the largest university campuses in the United States.
What Happened?
A little after 8 p.m. local time on Monday night, students and staff on the campus of Michigan State University (MSU) received an alert message advising them about reports of gunshots on campus and for them to “run, hide, fight,” meaning they should first try to escape, then try to hide, and if all else fails, prepare to defend themselves from the attacker or attackers.
The shots were reported in Berkey Hall and the MSU Union. A massive police response followed as officers attempted to secure the huge campus of 50,000 students and 5,200 acres. For five hours, students, staff and residents of the local community were under a shelter-in-place order as the manhunt continued.
How Many Were Killed or Wounded?
Two people were killed at Berkey Hall: Alexandra Verner, a junior, and Brian Fraser, a sophomore. Fraser’s family has refused to speak with the press thus far, saying they are still processing their grief.
The superintendent of Verner’s home district said she “was and is incredibly loved by everyone," adding that "she was a tremendous student, athlete, leader and exemplified kindness every day of her life! If you knew her, you loved her and we will forever remember the lasting impact she has had on all of us."
A third, 19-year-old Arielle Anderson, a sophomore who was studying to be a pediatric doctor, was shot and killed in the MSU Union. Anderson’s grandmother, with whom she stayed, described her as “kind, loving, caring, compassionate, driven,” and "very family oriented.”
31 January 2023, 03:09 GMT
Four other people were also wounded, with area police saying “some” of them had suffered life-threatening injuries.
Who is the Suspect?
Police said at a Tuesday news conference that 43-year-old Anthony McRae was the sole suspect. However, he was found off campus about nine hours later from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They have not assigned a motive to McRae. He was identified using security camera footage from the shooting.
"We have no idea why he came to campus tonight," interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman said.
According to local news, McRae was arrested in Lansing and charged in June 2019 with carrying a concealed pistol without a concealed carry permit. He agreed to plead guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge, and prosecutors dismissed the felony charge against him.
McRae was sentenced in November 2019 to 12 months probation, with six more being added in October 2020, such that it expired in May 2021. During his probation, he was barred from owning any type of firearm, but that restriction ended with his probation.
25 January 2023, 21:37 GMT
McRae was a working-class man who lived in northern Lansing in a home owned by his father, who told local news: "God knows you’ll never know what a kid is going to do.” He said he believed his son bought the weapon he used at a local pawn shop and that he had confronted his son about owning the weapon in an unsuccessful attempt to convince him to get rid of it.
How Have Officials Reacted?
US President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill Biden "are praying for the three students killed and the five students fighting for their lives after last night’s shooting,” adding that "our hearts are with these young victims and their families, the broader East Lansing and Lansing communities, and all Americans across the country grieving as the result of gun violence."
"Too many American communities have been devastated by gun violence," Biden continued. "I have taken action to combat this epidemic in America, including a historic number of executive actions and the first significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years, but we must do more."
"Action is what we owe to those grieving today in Michigan and across America," the president said.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a proponent of stronger gun control laws, said on Tuesday that “we cannot keep living like this.”
“We know this is a uniquely American problem. Today is the fifth anniversary of the Parkland shooting. We’re mere weeks past the lunar new year shooting at a [California] dance hall] and a few months past a shooting at an elementary school at Uvalde [Texas], and looking back at a year marked by shootings at grocery stores, parades and so many other ordinary everyday situations,” Witmer said.
28 January 2023, 19:13 GMT
“Our children are scared to go to school. People feel unsafe in their houses of worship, or local stores. As parents, we tell our kids it’s going to be OK. But the truth is words are not good enough. We must act and we will.”
Survivor of Two Massacres
In addition, one of the students on campus on Monday night was Jackie Matthews, a senior at MSU and a survivor of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut in 2012, in which 26 people were killed, most of them small children.
“I am 21 years old, and this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through,” Matthews said in an emotional TikTok video posted early on Tuesday. “The fact that this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through is incomprehensible.”
“My heart goes out to all the families and the friends of the Michigan State shooting,” she continued. “But we can no longer just provide love and prayers. It needs to be legislation, it needs to be action. It’s not okay. We can no longer allow this to happen. We can no longer be complacent.”
