Michigan State gunman carried note threatening New Jersey schools
-police
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[February 15, 2023]
By Eric Cox
EAST LANSING, Mich. (Reuters) - The gunman who killed three Michigan
State University students and wounded five others before taking his own
life had a history of mental illness and carried a note in his pocket
indicating a threat to two New Jersey schools, police said on Monday.
The disclosure of an apparent New Jersey connection to the suspect,
43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae, came as investigators sought clues to
what prompted him to open fire Monday night on the MSU campus in East
Lansing, about 90 miles west of Detroit.
McRae, who lived in the adjacent city of Lansing, Michigan, the state
capital, had no known affiliation to the university or associations to
any of his victims, MSU police have said.
"We have no idea why he came to campus to do this," Chris Rozman,
interim deputy chief of MSU police, told reporters early Tuesday, hours
after the shooting at an academic hall and nearby student union
building. A neighbor of McRae's described him to Reuters as "a real
hell-raiser" who often fired his gun at home.
The shooting began at about 8:30 p.m. local time, and the entire campus
and surrounding neighborhoods were placed under a security lockdown
while police searched door-to-door for the gunman. The manhunt ended
about three hours later in Lansing, where McRae shot himself to death,
authorities said.
It remained unclear whether the suspect was already dead when officers
caught up to him, acting on a tip from the public after MSU police had
released two still images of the suspect from surveillance video.
The images showed him walking into a building, then mounting a flight of
stairs wearing a jacket, a baseball cap and a black mask over his lower
face. He appeared to be holding a pistol in one hand, but authorities
have not disclosed what type of weapon was used.
NEW JERSEY TIES
Among the evidence that surfaced on Tuesday, authorities in Ewing, New
Jersey, said police had found a note in the gunman's pocket that
"indicated a threat" to two public schools in that Delaware River
township.
The "investigation revealed that McRae had a history of mental health
issues," Ewing Township police said in a statement on Facebook, adding
that McRae had ties to the Ewing community, and that area schools were
closed for the day "out of an abundance of caution.
An 85-year-old neighbor of McRae's in Lansing, speaking on condition of
anonymity, described him to Reuters as "a real hell-raiser" who often
fired his gun on the property where he lived with his father.
"We'd hear the gunfire all the time, and then it seemed the cops were
always down there for something," the neighbor said.
The suspect's father, Michael McRae, told The Washington Post his son
was arrested for carrying a loaded firearm without a concealed-weapons
permit in 2019 and later lied about having a gun inside his home.
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Police officers walk near the scene
where the suspect was located as they respond to a shooting at
Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, U.S., February
14, 2023. REUTERS/Dieu-Nalio Chery
RELIVING TRAUMA
MSU canceled all classes and other activities for 48 hours as
traumatized students and faculty grieved for the victims of
America's latest spasm of mass gun violence.
"I will never forget the screams of my classmates because they were
screaming in pain for help," sophomore Claire Papoulias, who was
sitting in her Cuban history class when the gunman stormed in,
recounted on NBC's "Today" show.
Papoulias said she dropped to the floor when she started hearing
gunshots directly behind her head. "Someone was yelling that there
was a shooter and everybody needed to get down on the ground, and at
that moment I thought that I was going to die. I was so scared," she
said.
The five wounded students were listed in critical condition at E.W.
Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, where surgery was performed on four of
them, Dr. Denny Martin, the hospital's chief medical officer, said
during the briefing as he struggled to keep his composure.
"I am filled with rage that we have to have another press conference
to talk about our children being killed in our schools," said U.S.
Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat who represents the area in
Congress. "If this is not a wake-up call to do something, then I
don't know what is."
The shooting took place about 30 miles south of Oxford, Michigan,
where a teenaged gunman in 2021 used a semi-automatic handgun his
father bought as a Christmas present to kill four students at the
local high school.
Monday's shooting came a day before the five-year anniversary of the
Valentine's Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida, where 17 victims died.
"Another place that is supposed to be about community and
togetherness is shattered by bullets and bloodshed. We know that
this is a uniquely American problem," Michigan Governor Gretchen
Whitmer said during the briefing, noting that she spoke to President
Joe Biden about the incident.
University police identified the slain students as Alexandria Verner,
a junior from Clawson, Michigan; Brian Fraser, a sophomore from
Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and Arielle Anderson, a junior also from
Grosse Pointe.
Verner was a 2020 graduate of Clawson High School, near Detroit,
local ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV reported, citing a letter from the
district's superintendent.
"She was a tremendous student, athlete, leader and exemplified
kindness every day of her life!" Superintendent Billy Shellenbarger
wrote to families, WXYZ-TV reported. "If you knew her, you loved
her."
(Reporting by Eric Cox in East Lansing. Additional reporting by
Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Tyler Clifford in New York City and Rich
McKay in Atlanta; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman
in Los Angeles; Editing by by Nick Zieminski, Lisa Shumaker and
David Gregorio)
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