On Monday, a day before the anniversary of the Parkland shooting, a 43-year-old gunman named Anthony Dwayne McRae opened fire at Michigan State University. McRae ended up killing 3 and injuring 5 before he ended his life by shooting himself.
The gunman was not a student or a member of staff and had absolutely no affiliation with the university. This was unusual as most school shootings are “inside jobs”. His motive for the reckless violence he caused remains unknown, as police reported the morning after during a news briefing. McRae shot up the East Lansing campus, which is 90 miles away from Detroit.
Chris Rozman, deputy chief of campus police, said the shooting began at Berkey Hall where two individuals were killed and then another was killed at the student union before the gunman fled and committed suicide via gun.
Rozman also reported that the gunman arrived at the scene and opened fire at around 8:18 p.m. at Berkey Hall. Mere minutes later calls came in from the student union building where the shooter then opened fire again. For three hours the police hounded to find McRae, eventually discovering him in an industrial area about 5 miles from campus, where he shot himself upon confrontation.
This wasn’t McRae’s first criminal offense involving guns. McRae pleaded guilty in 2019 to a weapons-related charge in Lansing. One night, he was found near an abandoned building at 1:30 a.m., carrying a Ruger LCP .380 semi-automatic pistol without a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He was charged with possessing a loaded weapon in a vehicle which he pleaded guilty to. He was also going to get charged with a violation of the concealed-carry law, but it ended up being dropped. McRae was placed on probation in 2019 and was “successfully discharged” on May 14, 2021.
It was also discovered that McRae had a history of mental illness. Police in the Township of Ewing had reported that during the investigation it was revealed that McRae had “a history of mental health issues”, also mentioning that he had ties to that community and that "out of an abundance of caution," schools in that area were closed for the day.
Michigan State University then closed for 48 hours for the staff and students to grieve this traumatic loss. "We will take two days ... to give ourselves time to think and to grieve and to be together," said MSU president Teresa Woodruff early on Tuesday.
The university identified two students killed on Tuesday – Michigan residents Brian Fraser, a sophomore, and Alexandria Verner, a junior. The third student’s relatives requested that their name not be released at this time.
President Joe Biden sent a message to Congress enacting pressure to pass gun control measures nationwide. "The fact that this shooting took place the night before this country marks five years since the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, should cause every American to exclaim “enough” and demand that Congress take action,'' Biden said.
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