EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The MSU Police held the latest update at a press conference this morning and provided additional details from their ongoing investigation regarding the Michigan State University shooting Monday evening that killed three MSU students and critically wounded five others.
Interim MSU President Teresa Woodruff opened the conference with gratitude to those in the media for its response to the shooting and during the recovery.
“Today I want to offer my thanks on behalf of a grateful university to all of you who helped spread the photo of the shooter Monday night that led to the tip that came in and led to the conclusion of this event,” President Woodruff said, “You helped our community, you helped our state, and you helped our nation stay informed and allowed us to be more transparent as we all worked and walked together on this pathway.”
She also added that as of Feb. 16, the campus resumed its standard operations after remaining on modified operations earlier this week. Currently, the school has also decided to close Berkey Hall, where two of the students were killed, for the remainder of the semester and are currently discussing whether or not to close the student union where one student died.
MSU police gave some additional information from the investigation and identified that the shooter had with him two 9 millimeter handguns, eight loaded magazines, a pouch with additional loose rounds, and two empty magazines in a backpack he was carrying.
“Our investigative team did work with our federal A.T.F. partners to trace those weapons and we have learned that they were purchased legally by the shooter, but they were not registered,” Chris Rozman, Interim Deputy Chief Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety said.
Court records given to the Detroit News from Ingham County reveal that McRae has a history of firearm charges including carrying a concealed pistol without a concealed carry permit in June 2019, the initial charge was a felony which carried a potential penalty of five years in prison. Later that fall, a second charge was added against McRae: possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle – a misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge, and the felony charge was dismissed. McRae was sentenced to 12 months probation, with an additional six months in October of 2020, and his probation concluded in May 2021. McRae was not prohibited from purchasing a gun after the completion of his probation, but officers would not clarify when and where he purchased these handguns.
Rozman also shared that the location where McRae was located was roughly 3.8 miles northwest of campus.
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Michigan State Police Lieutenant Rene Gonzalez later confirmed that after interviewing the shooter, Anthony McRae’s father, they were able to determine that he was a lone shooter in the shooting on Feb. 13, contrary to a note he was carrying – which claimed there were 20 other shooters that would also target other places. A search warrant and subsequent search of the McRae residence yielded a cell phone, journals of sorts, and fired 9 mm casings.
Officers have been able to trace McRae’s journey from the MSU campus to the point where he took his own life, but are continuing to ask the public for additional surveillance video to see if they can find anything else or where he might have been.
Towards the end of the press conference, MSU Board of Trustees Member, Rema Vassar spoke.
“I want us to give the grace that is necessary, we all are going to be healing in different ways and different paces,” Vassar said, “I am one of those mothers who’s like tough it up, you scraped your knee, you want peroxide or alcohol? I’m one of those moms.”
“I want that grace extended to all students, all staff, and all faculty,” she added.
After a Q & A session, Vassar revealed an update from Sparrow Hospital telling her that one of the five unidentified students in the hospital had improved from critical condition to stable condition.
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