Three dead, five hospitalized at Michigan State due to on-campus shooting; classes and sporting events canceled
East Lansing, Mich. – A shooting on the campus of Michigan State University has resulted in the deaths of three victims and the hospitalization of five. The suspect, a single gunman, turned a gun on himself and died of a self-inflicted gunshot shortly after midnight, according to Chris Rozman, Interim Deputy Chief of the Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety.
The initial shootings took place at Berkey Hall and at the Michigan State Student Union building.
“We are sad to report that there have been three confirmed fatalities,” Rozman said. “This is in addition to the five victims who were injured and transported to the hospital. Some of those victims still have life-threatening injuries. Out of respect to the families, and while we continue our active investigation, we cannot confirm any personal information about any of the victims at this time.”
Rozman said during a third press conference, at 1:35 a.m. on Tuesday morning, that the five hospitalized victims are in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing.
Law enforcement officials converged on the suspect in Lansing, west of the Michigan State campus, near Larch Street and Lake Lansing Road.
“The suspect was seen leaving the Michigan State Union on foot on the north side of that building,” Rozman said. “The suspect in this incident was located outside of the Michigan State campus and it does appear that the suspect has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It is confirmed that he has deceased.
“He was contacted by law enforcement off campus. I don’t have the particular details on the encounter that happened when law enforcement confronted the suspect off-campus. That will be part of our investigation. I don’t have the specific details of how that incident transpired.”
Rozman said the gunman is a 43-year-old male, Anthony McRae.
“He is not affiliated in any way with Michigan State University and we have no idea why he came to campus tonight to do this,” Rozman said. “That is part of our ongoing investigation.”
According to the Detroit Free Press, McRae pleaded guilty for carrying a handgun without a license after a 2019 arrest in Lansing.
“This truly has been a nightmare that we are living tonight,” Rozman said. “But we have remained laser-focused on the safety of our campus, our students and the surrounding community.
“We are relieved to no longer have an active threat on campus while we realize there is so much healing that will need to take place after this.
“We believe there to only be one shooter in this incident and there is no longer a need to shelter in place on campus.”
Rozman said there were no indications of a motive.
“We are unsure of any affiliation that the suspect had to the university,” Rozman said. “Our investigators and officers are still working to determine his identity.
“We have absolutely no information right now on what the motive is, and I can’t even begin to imagine what that motive will be. That will be part of our investigation and that will be a question that lingers on everybody’s mind, but at this time we have no idea.
“We have not received any threats to campus in the last several days or before this incident. To my knowledge, we were not aware of any threat before this.”
Rozman said all campus activities for the next 48 hours are canceled, including classes and sporting events.
“We are declaring that the campus will be closed for 48 hours,” he said. “That is subject to change as we evaluate our response to this incident, keeping the victims and the students of our community that have been impacted by this tragedy at the forefront. If we need to extend that, we will. And the appropriate conversations are occurring to make the determinations right now.”
Rozman said law enforcement officials descended upon the East Lansing campus shortly after 8 p.m., Monday.
“This incident started at about 8:18 p.m. at Berkey Hall on campus,” Rozman said.
Berkey Hall is an academic building on the north side of campus. It is not a residence hall. The Michigan State Student Union building, which opened in 1925, is a gathering place for students.
“We received multiple 911 calls of a shooting inside Berkey Hall,” Rozman said. “Numerous officers responded. We were quickly on the scene within minutes and there we did locate several victims of a shooting.
“The incident did move to a building in close proximity, the Michigan State Student Union building, where there was another report of a shooting immediately following the first incident.
“Two of the fatalities were at Berkey Hall and one was at the MSU Union. We don’t have specific information on how many students or people were in the building when those shootings occurred.
“Police and emergency responders acted quickly. We tended to the victims at both of those scenes and there was an overwhelming law enforcement response to campus to help with this situation.
“The initial response to the initial shooting was overwhelming. Every one of our law enforcement partners in Ingham County responded to the scene and additional counties in this area showed up, in addition to our federal partners. I’m comfortable in saying we had hundreds of law enforcement officers from university, local, county, state and federal, from the mid-Michigan area, that descended on campus today in a coordinated effort.
“We responded in force. We had officers on-scene, not only from Michigan State Police and Public Safety, but the East Lansing Police Department, the Michigan State Police, the Ingham County Sherif’s office, Meridian Township Police Department, initially responded to that scene. Within minutes, we had officers in the building following their active shooter protocol and going toward the threat. While officers were in Berkey Hall, the suspect moved over to the Union and when the incident took place there, officers quickly redeployed to the Union and that’s when the suspect left out the north door of the Union, which is the point that he was last seen.”
During an 11 p.m. press conference, prior to the gunman’s death, Rozman delivered the following information on the gunman:
“Initial information is that the suspect is a black male, shorter in stature, wearing red shoes, a jean jacket and a ball cap.”
The Michigan State University Police and Public Safety Twitter feed released this photo of the suspect shortly after the 11 p.m. press conference:
Rozman confirmed that the suspect in the photo is the person who turned a gun on himself as police closed in on him.
“I can confirm that the photo that we pushed out immediately as part of our transparent information sharing is the same suspect that was found deceased,” Rozman said during a second press conference after midnight.
Rozman is asking citizens to visit the Michigan State Police and Public Safety Twitter feed for information, which can be found @msupolice.
“There have been false reports of additional shootings,” Rozman said. “There have been false reports of the suspect being seen in numerous, different locations. Those reports are not accurate. Please follow our Twitter page for accurate information.
“I want to commend the students and our community in how they reacted when we sent out our emergency messaging, instructing people to shelter in place, to run, hide, fight. Our community listened and that’s why a lot of folks in those buildings were able to escape, because of following our instructions.
“Students are free to leave and go about their business. If they would like to be picked up, they may do that. We encourage any student that experienced any part of this incident that may be a witness to contact us. We have already been in touch with several of them. But if there are any students that witnessed any of the tragedy that occurred tonight we would refer them to our tip line and email and we would like an investigator to speak with them to understand what their experience was during this tragic incident.”
