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Police share updated MSU mass shooting details; note found on suspect released

March 10, 2023
<p>Police officers talk outside of MSU Union as they dress in tactical gear during the response of a shooting on Michigan State’s campus on the night Feb. 13, 2023.</p>

Police officers talk outside of MSU Union as they dress in tactical gear during the response of a shooting on Michigan State’s campus on the night Feb. 13, 2023.

Photo by Audrey Richardson | The State News

Content warning: This article contains explicit photos and discussions of violence relating to the Feb. 13 mass shooting on Michigan State University's campus. 

The Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety, or DPPS, released preliminary investigation findings that detail a timeline of the Monday, Feb. 13 mass shooting on campus. The shooting left three students dead and five students critically injured. 

The investigation is still ongoing by multiple law enforcement agencies, police confirm.

Timeline of shooting suspect's presence on campus

  • 8:18 p.m. – Ingham County 911 receives first call of shots fired at Berkey Hall 
  • 8:20 p.m. – Officers entered Berkey Hall 
  • 8:24 p.m. – The suspected shooter, Anthony McRae, entered the Union 
  • 8:26 p.m. – First report of shooting at the Union 
  • 8:26 p.m. – McRae exited the Union and left campus 
  • 8:27 p.m. – Officers arrived at the Union 
  • 8:30 p.m. – First emergency alert notification sent to community
  • 8:31 p.m. – Second emergency alert notification sent to community
  • 11:18 p.m. – A photo of the suspect from security footage was posted on MSU DPPS social media 
  • 11:35 p.m. – A person matching the description walking on Lake Lansing Road near High Steet in the City of Lansing is reported to Ingham County 911
  • 11:49 p.m. – Police approach McRae and he dies by a self-inflicted gunshot wound

911 calls

The route that McRae took once he left campus is still being "reviewed and finalized" by law enforcement, police said in a release.

Between 8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13 and 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14, Ingham County 911 received 2,100 phone calls, 1,450 of which were 911 calls. Police said this is the equivalent of 2.5 days’ worth of calls within a 5-hour period. 

There were 3,136 radio “push to talks” by officers on the primary shared radio dispatch talk group used by MSU DPPS and the East Lansing Police Department — a “push to talk” is every time an officer or dispatcher pushes the button to transmit on their two-way radio. Police also shared a map of these calls.

Note found on McRae's person

Police made contact with McRae in Lansing 17 minutes after the photo of him was released on MSU DPPS social media. 

McRae died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound when police made contact with him. 

A two-page note was found in his pocket, which police previously said may indicate a motive. McRae had no known affiliation with the university. Portions of the note released by police have been redacted.

The note is dated Sunday, Feb. 12, one day before the shooting. McRae wrote that he was leading a group of 20 individuals in his acts of violence. Investigators at MSU DPPS, the Michigan State Police and FBI determined that McRae acted alone and this claim is unfounded. 

McRae also wrote threats to several other businesses in the area and schools in Ewing Township, New Jersey, where he used to live. This prompted the closure of Ewing Township Public Schools on Tuesday, Feb. 13, before police determined McRae acted alone and there was no threat. 

Police have previously confirmed that a Delta Township Meijer Warehouse and a local church were of the placed named in the note.  

"They made me who I am today a killer," the note reads. McRae also called himself an "outcast" and a "loner."

"People hate me ... No one noticed me ... Everywhere I go people treat me different," McRae wrote.

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Three of the injured students have since been discharged from the hospital. The most recent update from Sparrow Hospital confirmed two students remain hospitalized. 

Police shared the following resources for those seeking support during this time:

  • MSU Student Health Services 
  • MSU Employee Assistance Program 
  • Counseling and Psychiatry Services 
  • MSU Department of Psychiatry 

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