Michigan State University mass shooting: what we know about the gunman, Anthony Dwayne McRae
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Three students were killed and five students wounded in shooting at Michigan State University Monday night.
Law enforcement officials at the university identified the shooter as Anthony Dwayne McRae, a 43-year-old man with no obvious affiliation to the school.
Here's what we know about McRae so far.
- McRae was neither a current nor former student or faculty member at Michigan State, said Chris Rozman, the university's interim deputy chief of police and public safety.
- He was previously sentenced to 18 months in state prison on a weapons charge, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
- Arrest records show he was convicted and ultimately sentenced in November 2019 for possessing a loaded firearm inside a vehicle, which is illegal in Michigan without a concealed carry license.
- The Ingham County Prosecutor's Office said McRae was contacted by police in 2019, and during an investigation, he was found to be carrying a concealed handgun that was legally registered to him, although he did not have a concealed carry license.
- He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor weapons charge and was sentenced to 12 months probation. He was discharged in May 2021, after successfully completing the terms of his probation.
- After the shooting, Police located McRae's body in the city of Lansing at around 11:30 p.m. Monday, Rozman said, thanking a caller whose tip led authorities to the suspect.
- McRae was found with a note in his pocket that "indicated a threat" to two schools in Ewing Township, New Jersey, officials said. The possible threat prompted officials to close schools on Tuesday in Ewing.
- McRae's body was found roughly three hours after police received their first reports of shots fired inside Berkey Hall, an academic building on the MSU campus, at around 8:30 p.m. Rozman said officers arrived at the scene within minutes, and "encountered several students who were injured" inside that building.
- WWJ radio in Detroit reported that the suspect lives in Lansing and "investigators, including MSP Bomb Squad" members were at his home overnight some two miles from where police confronted him.
- The suspect had no known affiliation with the school, and police have "no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight," Rozman said.
