Police ID 3 students, gunman killed in MSU shooting

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WNEM) – Three Michigan State University students were killed and five others were critically injured during a shooting on campus Monday night.

Tuesday afternoon, MSU Police and Public Safety identified three of the deceased students as Brian Fraser, a sophomore from Grosse Pointe, Arielle Anderson, a junior from Grosse Pointe and Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson.

M. Jon Dean, the superintendent of Grosse Pointe Pubic Schools released a letter to the community Tuesday, adding his heart broke as a proud Spartan parent when he learned of the news.

“I can’t even process what I just wrote. How can we have our community impacted in this personal way?” Dean said. “We are not sharing details of this event in our elementary and middle schools. Our high school students have been told, and we are prepared to support them with our mental health teams.”

The family of Arielle Anderson released the following statement:

We lost our precious daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, and friend, Arielle Anderson. She means the world to us. As much as we loved her, she loved us and others even more. She was passionate about helping her friends and family, assisting children and serving people.

Driven by her aspiration to tend to the health and welfare of others as a surgeon, she was working diligently to graduate from Michigan State University early to achieve her goals as quickly as possible.

As an Angel here on Earth, Arielle was sweet and loving with an infectious smile that was very contagious.

We are absolutely devastated by this heinous act of violence upon her and many other innocent victims.

While we appreciate the outpouring of the love, support, and prayers we have received thus far, we are grieving and hope that you respect our family’s wishes to remain private at this time.

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Police received the first call at 8:18 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13 reporting a shooting in Berkey Hall. Police responded immediately and were within the building within minutes, MSU police said.

Inside Berkey Hall, police encountered several students who were injured including two who were dead, police said.

While responding to that scene, police received reports of another shooting at the MSU Union building. Officers responded to that building and located another dead student, police said.

In total, three students were killed and five other students were critically injured. As of Wednesday morning, those five students remained in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital.

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The suspect, 43-year-old Anthony McRae, was located at 11:35 p.m. at a residence in the city of Lansing, police said, adding he was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A caller tip led police to the suspect, police said, adding the suspect had no affiliation with the university.

“We sincerely want to thank our community for their active efforts in helping us locate the suspect. This is a prime example of how ‘See Something, Same Something’ is effective and works to help keep our community safe,” MSU police said.

Police said McRae was found with a note and it is being investigated.

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The note indicated a threat to two schools in New Jersey, where McRae had ties, the Ewing Police Department in New Jersey said. Out of an abundance of caution, Ewing Public Schools were closed on Feb. 14.

“Officers from Ewing and surrounding agencies were stationed at each closed public school as well as the other schools in the township. After further investigation, it has been determined that the incident is isolated to Michigan, and there is no threat to Ewing Schools,” Ewing police said.

Police went on to say McRae had not resided in Ewing for several years and had a history of mental health issues.

“Our hearts are with those who have been affected by this senseless act of violence,” said Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman with MSU Police and Public Safety.

The FBI and MSU police are asking anyone with photos or videos of the incident to submit them here. If you have any information about this incident, call 844-99-MSUPD or email tips@police.msu.edu.

The MSU Board of Trustees issued the following statement in response to the shooting:

“Our hearts go out to the victims and families of this senseless tragedy. Thank you to MSU, local, state, and national law enforcement agencies and first responders who worked to protect our MSU community. We thank our counseling service providers who will work to bring calm and care to everyone on campus in the coming days and weeks. In the difficult days to come, the MSU Board of Trustees are united to heal our university and the entire Spartan community.”

All campus-related activities remain suspended.

The following resources are available for those seeking support during this time:

• Student Health Services General info: 517-884-6526; Nurse on-call: 517-353-9165
• Employee Assistance Program EAP is a confidential, free counseling service for employees: 517-432-0155
• Counseling & Psychiatry Services CAPS is the place for students seeking help for a wide range of health concerns.

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