A gunman shot and killed three students at Michigan State University Monday night. The shooter also injured five students, all of whom were listed in critical condition at a local hospital.
Authorities said at a news conference this morning that the gunman was Anthony McRae, a 43-year-old with no connection to Michigan State. He shot himself dead, off campus, after police tracked him down. At the news conference, officials said they had no indication as yet of the motive for the shootings.
The university is not yet releasing the names of the students.
The shootings started shortly after 8 p.m. Two were killed in the building that houses that College of Social Science and one in the student union.
Michigan State gave everyone a shelter-in-place order from shortly after the first shooting until early this morning. Officials praised Michigan State students for staying in place during that time.
The university canceled all classes for today and tomorrow, but is providing extra counseling services.
Teresa Woodruff, Michigan State's interim president, said early Tuesday, "We're devastated with the loss of life and we want to wrap our arms around every family touched by this tragedy."
She said, "Our Spartan hearts are broken."
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said this morning, "Certain places are supposed to be about community, learning, or joy—elementary schools and college campuses, movie theaters and dance halls, grocery stores and workplaces. They should not be the sites of bloodshed," The Detroit News reported.
“This is a uniquely American problem. Too many of us scan rooms for exits when we enter them. We plan who that last text or call would go to. We should not, we cannot, accept living like this," Whitmer said.
Michigan State canceled a men's basketball game against the University of Minnesota Wednesday night, The Detroit Free Press reported. The university also called off a men's tennis match against Drake University and a women's basketball game at Purdue University.
Other Shootings
Shootings on campus have become common.
Three students were killed at the University of Virginia in November. Two Iowa State University students were shot to death outside a church in June.
In 2019, two students were killed at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. One of the students was trying to save other students when he was killed.
While students are most frequently the victims of campus shootings, they are not the only ones.
Other shootings are threatened. A former postdoc at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was charged last year with sending an 803-page manifesto in which he threatened a mass shooting at UCLA as well as killing individual faculty members has been found by a judge to not be capable of standing trial.
Thomas Meixner of the University of Arizona was killed in October, allegedly by Murad Dervish, an expelled graduate student. A faculty report released this month said the university did not respond effectively to numerous threats by Dervish.
According to the faculty report, Meixner said, as he was dying, “I knew you were going to do this!”
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from Inside Higher Ed | News https://ift.tt/6g3hemY
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