Feb. 13 was a normal day at Michigan State University (MSU). Many students stayed up late to study, eat at the dining hall, and hang out with friends like any other college student would do, while others stayed in their room or had class. However, at around 8 p.m., students began to hear a loud banging noise and smelt gunpowder that was later identified to be gunshots. 

Police received many calls about gunfire coming from the dorms all across campus, as there were reports of shooting and screaming from the basketball courts. It was reported that someone was threatening five people who live at an off-campus apartment. Most of these reports led the law enforcement chasing down a deluge of 911 calls that were dead ends and false alarms. 

“A lot of those calls sounded real when they went out. We thought they were real and we responded like they were real and we were ready to do what we’re trained to do,” Chris Rozman, the university’s interim deputy police chief, said at a news conference. 

The university sent an email alerting students to take shelter in place or evacuate while the authorities searched for a shooter. However, according to a MSU student on Tik Tok, not many knew what was happening. Even though an email was sent out, no one was reacting because not many students received said email due to notifications not coming through. There also was no alarm system or any staff members trying to take action. 

About an hour after the shooting began, the university police department received a call about a shooting at a sports facility and that many were injured. When they arrived, it was noted that there were no shootings or injuries. 

After about three hours, it had become clear that a 43-year-old man was carrying a handgun. He ran after shooting fire in two buildings at the north edge of MSU. A resident reported seeing the suspect they were looking for, as they tried to approach him, he shot himself and was taken to the medic immediately. Authorities later announced that he was pronounced dead, and the lockdown was lifted.

The gunman first opened fire at around 8 p.m. at Berkey Hall, home to the university’s College of Social Science. According to Chris Rozman, the interim deputy university police chief said at a news conference Tuesday morning, he killed two people. The gunman later went to the Michigan State student union, where mostly students eat and study, and he killed a third person. 

The two students who died were identified by the Michigan State Police as Brain Fraser, 20 year old sophomore, and Alexandria Verner, 20-year-old junior. The school district in Grosse Pointe identified the third victim as Arielle Diamond Anderson, 19. As he left five victims who were wounded and students at the university. 

The gunman was identified as Anthony McRae, 43, and was not affiliated with the university. He had a list of targets and wrote a note in his bag that began with:

 “Hi, my name is Anthony McRae, I will be shooting up MSU,” a law enforcement official told CNN.

 As it is currently unclear how he got hold of a firearm if he pleaded guilty to a firearm charge where he was carrying a concealed weapon. 

While the campus of 50,000 students grieves for those who were killed and wounded, investigators still try to figure out what was the reason for coming to campus to create a bloodshed. So far this year, it has been marked the 67 mass shooting and the 12 school shooting. 

To be updated for more information, https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/14/us/michigan-state-university-shots-fired-tuesday/index.html.