Tragic night on campus as mass shooting occurs at Michigan State University
For four awful hours Monday night, Michigan State University was turned into a crime scene -- and campus was locked down for a manhunt -- after three people were killed and five were injured, some critically. Shortly after midnight, MSUPD confirmed that the suspect killed himself as police approached him in north Lansing, about a 10-15 minute drive west of where the shooting occurred on campus.
The first shooting was at Berkey Hall (two fatalities) and the second shooting was at the MSU Union (one fatality). According to MSUPD, there were no other shooting scenes. A university alert went out shortly after 8:00 p.m. asking everyone to shelter in place; that order was lifted shortly after midnight when the suspect took his own life.
MSUPD said that the perpetrator was identified as Anthony Dwayne McRae, a 43-year old male who was not affiliated with Michigan State University. He was not a student or employee. It is unknown at this time why he came to campus to commit these crimes. The Detroit News reports McRae had a history with firearms.
At a 8:00 a.m. press conference on Tuesday, the police department announced that the five victims who were transported to Sparrow Hospital were still in critical condition, and that all eight victims were Michigan State students.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety initially released the identities of two out of the three deceased victims: Brian Fraser, a sophomore from Grosse Pointe, Michigan; and Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson, Michigan.
Later on Tuesday, the MSU DPPS identified the third victim as junior Arielle Diamond Anderson, a 19-year old Grosse Pointe North High School graduate.
The identifies of the five injured victims still have not been released at this time.
As of Monday night, it was announced that all campus activities -- including classes and sporting events -- are canceled for the next 48 hours. That is subject to change, based on a statement from the MSUPD. That means that the MSU basketball game versus Minnesota scheduled for Wednesday night in East Lansing will be impacted.
On Tuesday morning, Michigan State Interim President Teresa Woodruff announced that all classes will be canceled for the remainder of the week and will resume on Monday, Feb. 20.
Alan Haller, Michigan State's vice president and athletic director, confirmed with Spartans Illustrated that Wednesday’s men’s basketball game against Minnesota will not be played at this time. He also confirmed that the women’s basketball team will not travel to Purdue (that game was also scheduled for Wednesday). The Michigan State men's tennis home match versus Drake will also not be played on Wednesday. Additionally, Haller confirmed that all other athletic events are to be determined.
Later on Tuesday, MSU Athletics announced that Friday’s gymnastics meet at Illinois has been postponed as well.
Obviously, athletics are not high on the priority list right now. MSU’s focus is on its students, faculty, staff and community. It is unclear at this time if any of those athletic events will be played on another date, but if so, those rescheduled dates will be announced later.
For those of us who love Michigan State University, Monday night was a tragic night that words cannot describe. The buildings that we have lived in, taken classes in, ate meals in -- those buildings were on the police scanner tonight in the worst possible way.
God bless the public safety professionals who took action, neutralized the shooter, stabilized the situation, and brought a semblance of safety back to our home, Michigan State University.
This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
