MSU holds update on latest developments in mass shooting
East Lansing – A man accused of fatally shooting three Michigan State University students and wounding five others Monday night carried a note that contained threats against multiple institutions and claimed he had a team of 20 people, who would help him carry out his plans, authorities said on Thursday.
The handwritten note led police to believe Anthony McRae, 43, felt “offended,” though officials stressed they are far from defining a specific motive leading to the mass shootings at Berkey Hall and the MSU Union led.
MSU Deputy Police Chief Chris Rozman said police are still trying to determine McRae’s connection to the university and the other locations listed in the note, as well as the motivation for the killing spree.
“He just felt offended,” said Lt. Michigan State Police’s Rene Gonzalez, who noted that McRae had some issues with businesses that had asked him to go but did not specify where those businesses were located. “That’s about what the note implied.”
Two students, Arielle Anderson, 19, of Harper Woods, and Alexandria Verner, 20, of Clawson, were shot dead at Berkey Hall, while another, Brian Fraser, 20, of Grosse Pointe, was killed at MSU Union.
Rozman said McRae was carrying two 9mm handguns and several rounds of ammunition in a backpack.
“We have learned that they (the handguns) were legally purchased by the shooter but were not registered,” Rozman said.
McRae said nothing to officers when they approached him near Lake Lansing Road and Larch Street, about 3.8 miles northwest of campus, near his home late Monday night before he took his own life, Gonzalez said .
In response to a tip, Lansing police officers in their vehicles approached McRae, got out and, from about 20 feet away, ordered him to show his hands, the state police officer said.
At that point, McRae pulled out a pistol and shot himself without saying a word to officers, Gonzalez said.
More:MSU gunner Anthony McRae’s past shows warning signs
Weapons, ammo and a note
In all, McRae had two 9mm handguns, eight loaded magazines, two empty magazines, and a bag of 50 loose rounds, Gonzalez said. Police also found two local bus tickets and a two-page handwritten note.
Gonzalez said the note contained threats against MSU, a New Jersey school district, some local businesses and a Meijer warehouse in nearby Delta Township, where he used to work. He said McRae claimed in the note to lead a group of 20 people who would get involved in his plans.
When asked if the letter also threatened a church, Gonzalez said he couldn’t remember.
McRae’s father told police his son was a loner with no friends staying in his room, “which led us to believe there was no way he would have a team like that,” Gonzalez said of how police ruled out a team of shooters .
Police recovered a cell phone, diaries, writings and fired 9mm cases from McRae’s home, Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said McRae appeared to have purchased the gun legally, meaning he completed a purchase authorization that includes a background check for prior crimes, but did not register the guns with a local police agency as required by law.
Gonzalez said police are investigating the two bus tickets in McRae’s bag and the possibility that “he may have had a regular route he took or may have intended to go elsewhere.”
“We showed that his entire route ran all the way back,” Gonzalez said, noting that police had conducted a series of surveillance footage to determine his journey away from the university.
Rozman said police are investigating McRae’s mental health history. The New Jersey Police Department said in a statement Tuesday about the threats against Ewing, NJ schools, that McRae had a history of mental health issues.
“There appear to be indications that this may be the case,” Rozman said. “It’s going to be difficult to confirm.”
Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee said his department was not called to McRae’s home over reports of the shooting, neighbors claimed Tuesday. He said the department reviewed their call logs to double-check after those reports surfaced.
Lansing Police responded to McRae’s home for a welfare check on Feb. 5, Sosebee said, but it wasn’t for McRae. He said Lansing police officers’ contact with McRae was limited to a 2005 theft complaint, three traffic violations between 2006 and 2007, and an arrest in 2019 for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
More:Police camera shows MSU gunman Anthony McRae with gun years before killing spree
McRae was originally charged with a felony but was allowed to invoke a misdemeanor in a High Court that allowed him to legally buy firearms at the end of his parole in 2021.
When Sosebee was asked to respond to former Ingham County District Attorney Carol Siemon’s decision to allow McRae to plead guilty in the 2019 case, Sosebee noted that Siemon no longer served in that role. Siemon, 66, retired on Dec. 31, halfway through her second four-year term in office, but gave no reason for her departure other than to plan to “move into the next phase of my life.”
“We would all hope that a prosecutor would uphold the law as it is written,” Sosebee said. “There is always room for some kind of discrepancy or discretion; but that will be under the microscope for a long time, I am sure.”
Siemon said Thursday that to her knowledge she was not personally involved in the 2019 case, but noted that the vast majority of cases across the country end in settlement agreements. She noted that the more lenient policies she instituted during her tenure — a ban on not charging gun and drug offenses because of a traffic stop and a liberal use of plea offers — weren’t implemented until 2021.
She also argued that there are too many guns in the US and that her office is focused on sensible steps to reduce gun ownership among “people who cannot use them responsibly.”
“Unfortunately, no policy, criminal complaint, judge’s decision, police freeze, new law or increased budget for services can completely eliminate the risk of harm, whether it’s a community member or a police shooting, but we must continue to use common sense and prudence.” Taking steps to protect our communities,” Siemon said.
Update on students
Four of the five students wounded in the shooting remain in critical condition, but some “are showing signs of improvement,” said Teresa Woodruff, the university’s interim president. Halfway through Thursday’s news conference, officials said the condition of a wounded student was updated to stable.
Woodruff said the university will resume operations Thursday, although Berkey Hall, where two students were fatally shot, will remain closed for the remainder of the semester. She said the student union was being evaluated and a decision on reopening would be made later. Students are expected to return to class on Monday.
“We as a campus know there is hard work ahead,” Woodruff said.
And although it took police several hours to locate McRae, Rozman defended the department’s handling of the situation.
“People may question the timing,” Rozman said, “but this has been an ongoing, complex investigation.”
McRae, who neighbors in Lansing dubbed a “hell-raiser” who practiced shooting targets out his back door, also had a recent history with firearms. And his father, Michael McRae, 66, told The Detroit News he encouraged his son to get rid of his guns.
State and federal laws allowed McRae to purchase a firearm shortly after his probation for a gun felony ended in May 2021, 20 months before he was charged with fatal shooting sprees on Monday night, The News reported Wednesday.