MSU mass shooting live updates: Suspect’s handguns were legally purchased

(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — Three students were killed and five others were injured when a gunman opened fire at two locations on Michigan State University’s main campus in East Lansing on Monday night, police said.

After an hourslong manhunt, police found the suspect — identified as 43-year-old Anthony McRae — dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound off campus.

All five injured students were in critical condition as of Tuesday, officials said.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Feb 16, 10:27 AM EST
Suspect’s handguns were legally purchased but not registered

The suspect in Monday’s mass shooting at Michigan State had two 9 mm handguns and additional magazines and ammunition on him when he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Michigan State University Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman said at a news conference Thursday.

The guns were purchased legally but were not registered, Rozman said.

The suspect, 43-year-old Anthony McRae, was found dead about 3.8 miles from the MSU campus on Monday night, Rozman said.

Marlon Lynch, MSU’s vice president for public safety and chief of police, commended the students who helped render aid to their classmates when gunfire erupted in Berkey Hall.

The five students wounded in the mass shooting remain in critical condition on Thursday, officials said.

Their names have still not been released.

Feb 15, 7:17 PM EST
Thousands gather on campus for memorial vigil

Thousands of mourners gathered at Michigan State University’s campus Wednesday night to pay their respects to the students who were shot Monday.

School president Teresa K. Woodruff spoke at the event, which included poems, songs and reflections from students and elected officials including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“We remember and honor the three Spartan students so cruelly taken from their families, friends and us.” she said. “Each came to join the very special, this extraordinary campus.”

Whitmer, a Michigan State alum, spoke about the courageous efforts that students and teachers did to help the wounded. She said she spoke to one of the hospitalized victims who told her that a fellow student took off their shirt and used it to put pressure on his wound and save his life.

“Countless Spartans were heroes,” the governor said.

Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo said he also visited the hospital where some of the wounded were recuperating and called on the community to keep those victims in their thoughts.

He also urged the campus community to take comfort in their friends and family as they process the violence.

“We all process trauma in a very different way, I’m just glad we’re all here tonight.”

Feb 15, 1:26 PM EST
MSU students protest at Michigan capitol

Michigan State students channeled their grief into protest as they gathered at the capitol in Lansing to urge gun reform.

Hundreds braved cold and windy weather as they sat on the building’s majestic steps and listened to sympathetic and angry speeches calling for legislative action to curb the violence they and students across the nation have been exposed to.

-ABC News’ Andy Fies

Feb 15, 7:13 AM EST
Communities mourn victims at vigils across Michigan

Hundreds of people gathered at memorials, prayer services and candlelight vigils across Michigan on Tuesday night to honor the three students who were killed and five others who were injured in Monday’s mass shooting at Michigan State University.

More vigils are planned for the rest of the week, including one scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET at The Rock, a 149-year-old landmark on MSU’s main campus in East Lansing.

Feb 15, 6:06 AM EST
MSU students recount deadly mass shooting on campus

Michigan State University student Dominik Molotky was in class on Monday evening when he heard a gunshot in the hallway, just outside the door.

“I was sitting next to the nearest door and thank god that my fight-or-flight response kicked in because, right when that first gunshot went off, I booked it to the far corner of the class,” Molotky, a senior, told ABC News in an interview Tuesday on Good Morning America.

A couple seconds later, the gunman entered the classroom and fired “three to four more rounds,” Molotky said.

“I was ducking and covering,” he recalled. “I think one of the students in my class got hit.”

When the gunfire stopped for “30 seconds to a minute,” Molotky said he and his classmates started breaking open a window so they could escape.

“There was glass everywhere,” he added. “We broke open the window and climbed out of there, and I booked it back to my apartment.”

Molotky and other students recounted their horrifying experiences as the mass shooting unfolded at multiple locations on MSU’s main campus in East Lansing, Michigan.

Feb 15, 5:42 AM EST
MSU student survives bloodshed 14 months after another mass shooting

ABC News spoke to Matt Riddle, who said his daughter survived the bloodshed at Michigan State University on Monday night, 14 months after surviving another deadly mass shooting at a high school in Oxford, Michigan.

The shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, left four people dead and seven others wounded.

“Having been through it in Oxford … it helped her understand what she needs to do in these situations,” Riddle told ABC News during an interview on Tuesday night. “I don’t like that she has those tools. I wish she didn’t, but she does.”

Feb 14, 7:58 PM EST
Classes to resume on Monday

Classes at Michigan State, which have been canceled in the wake of the tragic shooting, will resume on Monday, school officials said.

A vigil is also planned on campus Wednesday night in honor of the victims, all of whom were students at the school, officials said.

“We are devastated by this tragedy and wrap our collective arms around the victims’ families and friends who face unimaginable injury and loss,” Kim Tobin, vice president of university advancement, said in a statement Wednesday announcing the details.

Feb 14, 6:27 PM EST
Victim Arielle Anderson remembered for passion to help others

Arielle Anderson, a junior from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, was one of the three Michigan State students killed in the shooting. Her family remembered her as a “precious daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, and friend” in a statement shared Tuesday evening through her mother’s employer, Comerica Bank.

“As much as we loved her, she loved us and others even more,” the family said. “She was passionate about helping her friends and family, assisting children and serving people.”

Anderson, who was described as “sweet and loving with an infectious smile,” wanted to be a surgeon, her family said.

“Driven by her aspiration to tend to the health and welfare of others as a surgeon, she was working diligently to graduate from Michigan State University early to achieve her goals as quickly as possible,” the family said.

“We are absolutely devastated by this heinous act of violence upon her and many other innocent victims,” the statement added.

Feb 14, 3:26 PM EST
University releases names of victims

The three Michigan State students killed in the shooting have been identified by university police.

Brian Fraser, a sophomore, and Arielle Anderson, a junior, were both from Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Alexandria Verner, a junior, was from Clawson, Michigan.

Five other students remain in the hospital in critical condition following the attack.

Feb 14, 2:19 PM EST
Suspect walked from his home to campus, viewed himself as ‘loner’

The FBI offered new details on the suspected gunman in a confidential briefing to law enforcement on Tuesday.

Investigators have determined 43-year-old Anthony McRae walked from his home to Michigan State and had no connection to the university or the victims.

Authorities said that when McRae was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he had a “3-page document expressing his reasons for the attack and a number of additional locations in Lansing and Holt, Mich.; Ewing Township and Franklin Park, NJ; and Colorado Springs, Colo., which had ‘hurted’ (sic) him and, therefore, were deserving of attack.” Agents believe he had “personal grievances” with people at those locations.

McRae lived with his father, who is cooperating with the investigation, the FBI reported.

Investigators said the suspect’s writings confirmed he “was often alone.” The briefing said the gunman viewed himself as “a loner” and an “outcast” who was “never noticed or accepted by others.”

-ABC News’ Josh Margolin

Feb 14, 1:12 PM EST
Biden urges Congress to ‘enact commonsense gun law reforms’

President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday, “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.”

Biden noted that the Michigan State mass shooting came one night before the U.S. marked five years since the Parkland, Florida, high school massacre. In the Feb. 14, 2018 school shooting in Parkland, 17 students and staff were gunned down.

“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,” Biden said.

He stressed, “Congress must do something and enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, closing loopholes in our background check system, requiring safe storage of guns, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. Action is what we owe to those grieving today in Michigan and across America.”

Feb 14, 1:04 PM EST
Timeline of the shooting

The first active shooter call came in at 8:18 p.m. from Berkey Hall, an academic building, and the university immediately told students to shelter in place, the Michigan State University Police Department said.

Shots were fired soon after at the student union.

At about 11 p.m., the suspected gunman was seen on campus security cameras, police said.

Images of the suspect were shared with the public at 11:18 p.m., police said.

At about 11:35 p.m., a caller’s tip led police to the suspect, authorities said.

Feb 14, 12:36 PM EST
Suspect had 2 guns, numerous magazines

The suspected shooter, 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae, lived in Lansing, officials said.

The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as law enforcement was approaching, a law enforcement source briefed on the situation said.

The source added that a firearm was recovered at the scene, and a second firearm was found in a backpack along with numerous magazines.

McRae served 18 months in prison between 2019 and 2021 on a weapons charge for having a loaded weapon in his vehicle, according to Michigan’s Department of Corrections.

-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Luke Barr and Josh Margolin

Feb 14, 12:25 PM EST
Michigan State police releases names of 2 victims

Two of the three Michigan State students killed in the shooting have been identified by university police.

Brian Fraser, a sophomore, was from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, while Alexandria Verner, a junior, was from Clawson. Authorities said they will not be naming the third victim at the request of the family.

Five other students remain in the hospital following the attack.

Feb 14, 11:56 AM EST
Shock, fear, confusion at Michigan State

At Michigan State, students and staff are overcome with shock, fear and confusion, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor told ABC News’ GMA3.

“It’s a terrible time. No mayor, no governor, no elected official ever wants to be up all night or wake up to a situation like this,” he said.

Schor said mental health resources are available.

Schor said the five injured students “are critical but stable.”

“It’s touch and go,” he said. “and the doctors are doing their best to work as aggressively as possible.”

Feb 14, 11:02 AM EST
Suspect had note indicating threat to NJ schools

When the suspect, 43-year-old Anthony McRae, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said there was a note in his pocket indicating a threat to two public schools in Ewing, New Jersey, according to Ewing police.

McRae had local ties to Ewing but hasn’t lived in the area in several years, police said.

Ewing Public Schools are closed on Tuesday out of an abundance of caution, police said. However, no threat has been found and schools are expected to reopen on Wednesday, police said.

McRae “had a history of mental health issues,” police added.

Feb 14, 8:47 AM EST
No motive known

No motive is known, police said. The 43-year-old suspect, Anthony McRae, had no known connection to the university, according to authorities.

After police released the suspect’s photo, a tip from a caller led authorities to finding him, officials said.

A search warrant has been executed at a home, police said.

Feb 14, 8:14 AM EST
Michigan leaders call out US gun violence

At a news conference Tuesday, Michigan leaders called out the prevalence of U.S. gun violence.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said, “I cannot believe I am here again doing this 15 months later,” speaking at the scene of another Michigan school shooting, referring to the November 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School where four students were killed and several others were injured.

“I am filled with rage that we have to have another press conference about our children being killed in schools,” she said.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer added, “We’re all broken by an all-too-familiar feeling.”

“We cannot keep living like this,” she said. “Our children are scared to go to school. People feel unsafe in their houses of worship or local stores.”

Feb 14, 6:00 AM EST
City manager thanks ‘brave’ first responders after ‘horrific act of violence’

Interim East Lansing City Manager Randy Talifarro described Monday night’s mass shooting at Michigan State University as a “horrific act of violence.”

“The City of East Lansing is mourning the devastating shooting that occurred on the campus of Michigan State University tonight,” Talifarro said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to all of the victims of this horrific act of violence as well as their family and friends. East Lansing and MSU have always shared in each other’s victories and each other’s losses. Tonight, we hold space while we grapple with this devastating loss of life together.”

Talifarro also thanked the “brave first responders who quickly responded to MSU’s campus.”

“Against every natural instinct they ran towards the sound of danger, seeking not their own wellbeing, but instead to protect and serve those in need,” he said. “And we stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone impacted by tonight’s events. Please know that you’re not alone in your grief. We stand with you and will be here as we seek to heal as a community.”

City buildings and offices, including city hall, the public library and the district court, will be closed to the general public on Tuesday. Essential city employees will be reporting to work.

Drop-in counseling services will be available for members of the community at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

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