The gunman who allegedly injured five students and killed three more in a mass shooting at Michigan State University was supposedly found with two more guns and notes that could indicate his motive.
Michigan State Police Lt. Rene Gonzalez told reporters on Thursday morning that Anthony McRae was found with two handguns along with a backpack. This backpack allegedly contained eight loaded magazines of 9mm ammunition, a smaller bag with 50 rounds of loose ammunition, and another magazine filled with ammunition in his breast pocket. Also inside the backpack was his wallet, which police say contained two pages of written material.
As CBS News reported, the authorities confirmed that the notes threatened various institutions, such as a church or businesses that McRae apparently knew personally.
“Through our investigation, we found that he had contact with some of those places — he was an employee of the Meyer warehouse at one time, and a couple of the other businesses, it appears that he had some issues with the employees there where he was asked to leave,” said Gonzalez, per CBS News. “So it looks like … he felt slighted and that’s kind of what the note indicated.”
Police said that McRae had no direct connection to any of the victims, and he was not affiliated with Michigan State University, as reported by The Chicago Tribune. Police also they believe the suspect was the lone shooter.
A press release from the incident provided details about how the attack Monday night began.
“The first call reporting an active shooter took place at 8:18 p.m. at Berkey Hall. A shelter-in-place was immediately put into place for campus and the surrounding community,” stated the release, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Lt. Gonzalez offered more details about the police’s alleged confrontation with McRae. He said that officers made contact with McRae from about 20 feet away and told him to show his hands. After that, the suspect allegedly “produced a weapon and killed himself,” per CBS News.
Of the five students wounded, one has been upgraded to stable condition at an area hospital. Interim university President Teresa Woodruff said the rest remain in critical condition but have shown “signs of improvement,” per AP News. A statement released by the Chinese Consulate in Chicago indicates that two of the five students are from China.
The three students who died, Brian Fraser, 20, Arielle Anderson, 19, and Alexandria Verner, 20, were all from suburban Detroit.
