LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 13: Police and emergency vehicles are on the scene of an active shooter situation on the campus of Michigan State University on February 13, 2023 in Lansing, Michigan. Five people were shot and the gunman still at large following the attack, according to published reports. The reports say some of the victims have life-threatening injuries. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Three people were fatally shot and another five injured at Michigan State University Monday night after a gunman opened fire on-campus, before ultimately shooting himself and taking his own life.
The deadly mass shooting prompted a massive manhunt while forcing terrified students to hide in the dark, according to the Associated Press.
Authorities have since identified the shooter as 43-year-old Anthony McRae, per Fox 2 Detroit.
McRae’s death early Tuesday morning, just four hours after the shootings began at Berkey Hall – an academic building – before moving to nearby MSU Union, where students often go to eat and study.
Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the campus police department, said two people were killed at Berkey and another was killed at the MSU Union, while five people were in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital.
“This truly has been a nightmare we’re living tonight,” Rozman said.
Hundreds of police officers descended upon the East Lansing campus to search for the gunman, who was described as a short Black man wearing a jean jacket, red shows and a baseball hat.
McCrae was eventually confronted by authorities off-campus before he killed himself with a “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Rozman said.
Rozman provided little details on the gunman, but did confirm that the man was not a student or employee and had no affiliation with the university.
“We have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight. That is part of our ongoing investigation,” the deputy chief went on to say.
Michigan State has about 50,000 students, including 19,000 who live on-campus. All classes, sports and other activities were canceled for 48 hours following the shootings.
The mass shooting incident forced students to hide and turn off all the lights in their rooms as police searched for the gunman.
WDIV-TV meteorologist Kim Adams, whose daughter attends Michigan State, told viewers that students were exhausted by the hours-long ordeal.
“They’ve been hiding, all the lights off in a dark room,” Adams said.
Aedan Kelley, a junior who lives a half-mile from campus, said he locked his doors and covered his windows “just in case” as sirens and a helicopter blared around him.
“It’s all very frightening,” Kelley said. “And then I have all these people texting me wondering if I’m OK, which is overwhelming.”
Monday night’s shooting is the latest in what has already become a deadly new year across the country. The Associated Press reports that dozens of people have been killed in mass shooting incidents since January 1, 2023.
Perhaps most notably was a shooting in California that left 11 Asian-Americans dead at a dance hall during celebrations of the Lunar New Year.
And last year saw over 600 mass shootings in the U.S., incidents where at least four people were killed or injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
“This is a uniquely American problem,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.
This most recent mass shooting comes exactly five years since the then- 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others back on February 14, 2018.
