Michigan officials said Tuesday they “don’t know why” a 43-year-old man killed three Michigan State University students and wounded five others before turning the gun on himself, the latest mass shooting on US campuses. The latest in a pandemic of.
Jim Tarasca, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit office, said at a briefing that the gunman, identified as Anthony Dwayne McRae of Lansing, Michigan, shot himself after a rampage Monday night. McRae had no ties to the university in East Lansing, about 90 miles (145 km) northwest of Detroit.
“Police don’t know why he came on campus to do what he did tonight,” said Chris Roseman, interim deputy chief of the Michigan State University police force.
Sophomore Claire Papoulias was sitting in her Cuban history class when the gunman entered her classroom. She said she fell to the floor when she heard gunshots directly behind her head.
“I will never forget the screams of my classmates as they screamed in pain for help,” Papoulias said on NBC’s Today show. “Someone was yelling that there was a shooter and everybody had to get on the ground, and at that point I thought I was going to die. I was so scared.”
Five injured students were in critical condition at EW Sparrow Hospital, where four of them underwent surgery, Dr. Denny Martin, the hospital’s interim president and chief medical officer, said during the briefing as he struggled to stay afloat. Were.
Congresswoman Alyssa Slotkin, who represents the area, said, “I am filled with anger that we have to hold another press conference to talk about children being killed in our schools.” “If that’s not a wake-up call to do something, I don’t know what is.”
The shooting occurred about 30 miles south of Oxford, Michigan, where in 2021 a teenage gunman used a rifle bought by his father as a Christmas gift to kill four students at a local high school.
Monday’s shooting comes a day before the five-year anniversary of the Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 students and teachers dead.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said during the briefing, “Another place that was supposed to be about community and solidarity has been shattered by gunfire and bloodshed. We know this is a uniquely American problem.” ,