Michigan State shooter who killed 3 students, injured 5 identified as Anthony McRae

Three Michigan State University students -- an aspiring pediatrician, a fraternity president, and a tremendous student who "exemplified kindness every day of her life" -- were shot and killed Monday evening on campus.

The school identified them on Tuesday as Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson; Arielle Anderson, a sophomore from the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe; and Brian Fraser, a sophomore also from Grosse Point. 

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Anthony McRae, identified by police as the Michigan State University gunman, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit in 2019, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, according to Ingham County court records.

In October 2019, that felony count was dropped after McRae pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle, a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison.

McRae was sentenced to probation, which ended in May 2021.

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The brother of Michigan State University gunman Anthony McRae said Tuesday that McRae "changed" after their mom died in September 2020 and stopped taking care of himself.

"He lived a sheltered world," Michael McRae told Fox News Digital on Tuesday afternoon. "He started changing. He was getting more and more bitter and angry. I'm asking him, ‘What’s on your mind?' But he wouldn't talk to me."

McRae opened fire inside an academic hall on campus on Monday evening, killing three students and critically wounding five others, according to police.

He was located off-campus deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after an hours-long manhunt.

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Michigan State University police identified the third student who was killed in Monday's shooting as Arielle Anderson, a junior from the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe.

Brian Fraser, a sophomore also from Grosse Point, and Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson, were previously identified as the other two deceased victims.

Jon Dean, the superintendent of the Grosse Pointe Public School System, said that he first learned about the shooting while at a school board meeting on Monday evening.

"How is this possible? How is this possible that this happened in the first place?An act of senseless violence that has no place in our society and in particular no place in school,” Dean said at a press conference on Tuesday.

President Biden released a statement Tuesday saying he and First Lady Jill Biden are "praying for the three students killed and the five students fighting for their lives after last night’s shooting at Michigan State University. 

"Our hearts are with these young victims and their families, the broader East Lansing and Lansing communities, and all Americans across the country grieving as the result of gun violence," Biden said.

Biden says he has spoken with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and "directed the deployment of all necessary federal law enforcement to support local and state response efforts."

"Too many American communities have been devastated by gun violence," Biden continued. "I have taken action to combat this epidemic in America, including a historic number of executive actions and the first significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years, but we must do more."

"The fact that this shooting took place the night before this country marks five years since the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, should cause every American to exclaim 'enough' and demand that Congress take action," Biden also said.

The Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety has identified two of the students killed in Monday night's campus shooting as Brian Fraser, a sophomore from Grosse Pointe, and Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson.

"With respect to the family’s wishes, we will not be releasing the third victim’s name at this time," the department said in a statement.

The Michigan State gunman had a note in his pocket "indicating a threat" to two New Jersey schools when he killed himself following a deadly shooting spree at the university, police said.

Anthony McRae, 43, killed three MSU students and critically wounded five others when he opened fire on the East Lansing campus at 8:30 p.m. Monday, which sparked a tense and chaotic manhunt that ended about four hours later when police found McRae with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

Officers found a note in his pocket about a threat to two public schools in Ewing, New Jersey, which were closed Tuesday and guarded by a heavy police presence "out of an abundance of caution," according to a statement by the Ewing Police Department. 

Details about what was written on the note weren't released, but police said there's no threat to the New Jersey communities. 

McRae has ties to Ewing Township, but hasn't lived in the area for several years, police said.

Investigators indicated McRae has a history of mental illness, and officers told 911 dispatchers that they were called for a welfare check for him last week. 

Lansing police declined to provide details about the welfare check, telling Fox News Digital in an email, "His history is part of the investigation, so we cannot comment at this time."

A high-ranking Michigan state House Democrat said "f--- your thoughts and prayers" after the deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University.

Michigan state House Majority Leader Ranjeev Puri issued his official statement on Tuesday morning following the Monday night shooting at the state university.

"F--- your thoughts and prayers," Puri started his statement in the wake of three deaths and five injuries in the shooting.

"I want to extend my deepest condolences to the Michigan State University community, who are experiencing unimaginable trauma and grief after a shooter opened fire at multiple locations across Michigan State’s campus," Puri said.

"What happened in East Lansing is unfortunately far too common," the Democrat state lawmaker said. "Going to school in America, whether its pre-school or college, means risking your life every day to the threat of a mass shooting."

"Yet all we have offered up are empty solutions — traumatizing active shooter drills and bulletproof backpacks," Puri added.

The Michigan Democrat wrote that Americans "do not need to live like this" and claimed that the U.S. "is the only country where this happens."

Puri said "mass shootings have left us desensitized, waking up each day to a seemingly never-ending horrific cycle of gun violence" and that living "in a society plagued with gun violence can be prevented."

"Thoughts and prayers without action and change are meaningless," the Michigan House Democrat whip said. "Our office will continue to work tirelessly to pass common sense gun reform immediately."

Spartans alum Magic Johnson is tweeting his condolences to those affected by the Michigan State University shooting.

"Cookie & I are devastated to hear about the news of a shooting on Michigan State’s campus," Johnson wrote. "We are praying for the victims, their families, students, faculty, employees & administration."

He added: "This is such a tragic situation & our hearts go out to the MSU community, all of Lansing and East Lansing!"

Johnson starred at his hometown school for three years before he was the first overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft – he won the national title just a few months before, and his number 33 is retired by the university.

Former Spartans running back Le'Veon Bell also sent a message on Twitter, writing "Prayers for MSU." 

Bell played at Michigan State from 2010 to 2012, and was drafted the next year.

The FBI's Detroit Field Office says it and the Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety "are asking anyone with photos or video surrounding the active shooter incident or the suspect at the Michigan State University campus on February 13, 2023" to submit them as part of the investigation.

Claire Papoulias, a Michigan State University sophomore, told NBC's "Today" Show Tuesday that she thought she was "going to die" as the shooting unfolded.

"I could hear gunshots like directly behind my head and I could see the smoke, like gunpowder or something from that weapon firing and then I could smell -- and immediately I dropped to the floor with all my classmates and someone was yelling that there was a shooter and everybody needed to get down on the ground," she said. "And at that moment I thought that I was going to die."

"After I heard those gunshots my classmates in the back of the classroom started to scream for help and my other classmates jumped into action trying to help everyone," Papoulias continued. "If it weren't for my classmates helping everyone I don't think that we would have all made it because immediately someone was like 'we need to break open this window.'"

"The shooter, he came in through the back door... and he just started attacking people and I will never forget the screams of my classmates, they were screaming in pain for help," she added. "After they got the window open, they started to guide people through."

It is not immediately clear what caused gunman Anthony McRae to leave Berkey Hall and head to the school's student union, where he also opened fire.

"There was a boy in my class and he was waiting outside the window and he was catching people and helping people down," Papoulias also said. "I just grabbed my backpack and my phone, and I remember I just ran for my life. I didn't know where the guy was."

Anthony McRae was on probation for 18 months until May 2021 for possessing a loaded, concealed gun without a permit, according to Michigan's Corrections Department.

Police confronted McRae about 5 miles from campus in an industrial area, where he killed himself following Monday night's shooting, investigators say.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A tip from a member of the public led Lansing law enforcement to the man who opened fire on Michigan State University, killing three students and critically wounding five more, police revealed Tuesday.

Anthony McRae, 43, was located "shortly after" the on-campus shooting, and was found to have died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in an off-campus area within hours. 

"It was a caller’s tip that led law enforcement to that suspect in the city of Lansing," Michigan State University Police and Public Safety Deputy Chief Chris Rozman said Tuesday. 

Investigators began scouring surveillance footage as the bloodshed unfolded Monday night, and quickly located an image of the suspect, which they then immediately disseminated to the public, Rozman told reporters during a Tuesday morning press conference. 

"It was shortly after we released it that he was recognized by an alert citizen," Rozman said. "And that was exactly what we were trying to achieve by releasing that picture, was to generate immediate tips for this person that was mobile, that we had no idea where he was at that point."

A doctor broke down in tears while providing updates on the five wounded victims of Monday's mass shooting on Michigan State University's campus on Tuesday morning.

Dr. Denny Martin, the acting president and chief medical officer for E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, said five individuals were brought there. Four required surgeries and one did not. 

All five individuals remain in critical condition as of Tuesday morning.

"This is something we talked about this morning that we practice for very often but never want to have to do, and we did it amazing as well" Martin said, becoming emotional as he thanked the first responders and medical staff. 

"We can't forget we had general surgeons and cardiothoracic surgeons, neurosurgeons who didn't get a lot of sleep last night," he continued through sobs. "So many people that just came in, we received a lot of texts that were just, you know, ‘I’m on my way,' — just with people showing up where they needed to be. It was a sad but very proud night for all of us here." 

Dr. Marc Siegel says a doctor treating the victims of the mass shooting, who got emotional during a press conference earlier this morning, is "feeling the terror and the horror of students at this age being victimized like this."

Michigan State University Police Deputy Chief Chris Rozman said Tuesday "we are still working to determine place or hometown and residence for the suspect."

Anthony McRae, 43, was identified moments ago by Rozman as the shooter. 

McRae was found dead after the shooting from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police say.

Three MSU students were killed and five are in critical condition following the shooting that unfolded around 8 p.m. Monday night on the East Lansing campus.

Michigan State University Police Deputy Chief Chris Rozman told reporters Tuesday that "We have absolutely no idea what the motive was at this point" for the mass shooting Monday night.

"We can confirm that the 43-year-old suspect had no affiliation to the university," he said. "He was not a student, faculty, staff, current or previous."

"So that's an unknown right now. And that's what we're trying to understand is why this incident occurred," Rozman added. "I know everybody wants to know what the motive is. We don't have an answer right now. And that's that's the honest truth."

Michigan State University Police Deputy Chief Chris Rozman told reporters Tuesday that "at this point, we have no additional information on the actual weapon that was used in the incident. 

"Those are things that we will continue to process and look at today as part of our investigation," he added. "We did recover a weapon."

Michigan State University Police Deputy Chief Chris Rozman identified the shooter Tuesday as Anthony McRae, 43.

Police say he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound following the attack.

"It was a caller's tip that led law enforcement to that suspect in the city of Lansing," Rozman said.

"We cannot thank the public in the community and the person who called in that report enough for being observant, for following our messaging and for being vigilant in contacting us immediately," he added.

Michigan State University Police Deputy Chief Chris Rozman said Tuesday that all of the victims in the mass shooting at the school Monday night were students there.