EAST LANSING, Mich. ― All eight victims of a mass shooting Monday that left three dead and five critically wounded on Michigan State University's campus were students, police said early Tuesday morning as they continue to search for answers about the 43-year-old gunman's motive.
MSU police identified two of the three victims as Brian Fraser, a sophomore from Grosse Pointe, and Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson.
"In respect to the family’s wishes, will not be releasing the third victim’s name at this time," the university police department said in a statement.
Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the MSU police department, said early Tuesday morning that two students were fatally shot at Berkey Hall while the third victim was at the campus student union building.
The five wounded remain in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital. Four needed surgical intervention and one did not, said Sparrow's Chief Medical Officer Denny Martin.
The suspected gunman's name is Anthony McRae. Criminal records show McRae, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, had a previous misdemeanor firearms conviction in November 2019 after being convicted of possessing a loaded firearm in a vehicle. He was released from probation supervision in May 2021, court records show.
Rozman said police are still trying to determine a motive.
"That's what we're trying to understand — is why this incident occurred," said Rozman.
MSU police released photos of the suspect Monday evening, and shortly after, someone called police to report they had seen the man in Lansing, Rozman said. Police confronted the man, and he shot himself. Police recovered one weapon from his body, but would not confirm if search warrants on his residence turned up anything.
At an emotional news conference Tuesday morning where many wiped away tears, MSU Interim President Teresa Woodruff said the Spartan community is grieving.
"Together, we will come back more resilient than ever," Woodruff said, "and more ready to face what is needed in this society, which is the courage of all of us to ensure this never happens again."
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin said it was terrible to see a student wearing a sweatshirt with the words "Oxford strong" in a crowd of students fleeing the shooter Monday evening. The shooting comes just 14 months after another at Oxford High School in November 2021 left four students dead and six students and a teacher injured.
"As a representative of Oxford, Michigan, I cannot believe I am here again doing this 15 months later. I am filled with rage that we have to have another press conference about our children being killed in their schools," Slotkin said. "We have children in Michigan who are living through their second school shooting in a year and a half. If this is not a wake up call to do something, I don’t know what is."
MSU's campus, typically bustling with more than 50,000 students headed to class or into downtown East Lansing, was silent Tuesday morning.
Very few students were outside and police tape cordoned off Berkey Hall and the Union. A central entrance on to campus right near the Union at Abbott and Grand River, meanwhile, remained blocked off.
East Lansing’s Hannah Community Center will be open for students who need resources or counseling, said East Lansing Mayor Ron Bacon. MSU also has resources for students, Woodruff said, and those will remain until students no longer need it.
Campus is operating on an essentials-only status Tuesday and Wednesday and classes will remain canceled until Monday.
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(Detroit News staff writer Craig Mauger contributed to this report.)
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