Michigan State urged ‘run, hide, fight’ as gunfire erupted
They broke out windows to escape, barricaded doors and hid under blankets. They silenced their phones — afraid to make even the slightest sound for hours as police searched for a gunman who had already killed three students and critically wounded five others on the Michigan State University campus.
The terror felt by thousands of students — some experiencing their second mass shooting — was evident in texts to parents, posts on social media and in 911 calls.
It started around 8:30 p.m. Monday when Anthony McRae, a 43-year-old with a previous gun violation, opened fire inside an academic building and the student union.
Alerts sent out to students urged them to “run, hide, fight,” and video showed them fleeing as police swarmed toward the chaos. The massive search that ensued ended roughly three hours later when McRae fatally shot himself in a confrontation with police miles from campus, officials said Tuesday.
McRae was neither a student nor an employee of the university. The motive is a mystery.
Jaqueline Matthews, a member of the Michigan State rowing team, crouched for so long when gunfire erupted at Sandy Hook Elementary that her back is permanently injured. Now a decade later, the 21-year-old international law major was watching chaos outside her campus window, stunned to find herself here yet again.
“The fact that this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through is incomprehensible,” she said in a TikTok video that she recorded in the early morning hours, demanding legislative action. “We can no longer allow this to happen. We can no longer be complacent.”
She wasn’t the only one experiencing her second mass shooting. Jennifer Mancini told the Detroit Free Press that her daughter also had survived the
November 2021 shooting that left four students dead at Oxford High School in southeastern Michigan. Now a freshman at Michigan State, her daughter was traumatized anew.
“I can’t believe this is happening again,” said Mancini, who didn’t want her daughter’s name used.
Meanwhile, family and friends mourned the deaths of the three students who were killed.
All three students who were killed came from the suburban Detroit area. The names of the five who were injured have not been released.
Among those killed was Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson, whose LinkedIn profile said she was studying integrated biology and anthropology.
A 2020 graduate of Clawson High School, Verner “was and is incredibly loved by everyone,” district Superintendent Billy Shellenbarger said in a statement Tuesday. “She was a tremendous student, athlete, leader and exemplified kindness every day of her life.
“If you knew her, you
loved her and we will forever remember the lasting impact she has had on all of us,” Shellenbarger said, adding that Verner’s parents, sister and brother were “grieving but are certainly already feeling the uplifting support of this tremendous community. ”
Verner’s Twitter bio says, “Can’t stop dreaming,” and features photos and videos from Clawson basketball and volleyball games.
Also killed was Brian Fraser, a sophomore who attended Grosse Pointe
South High School.
Fraser was president of Michigan State’s chapter of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, which said in a statement Tuesday that its members were “heartbroken.”
“Brian was our leader, and we loved him,” the fraternity said. “He cared deeply about his Phi Delt brothers, his family, Michigan State University, and Phi Delta Theta. We will greatly miss Brian and mourn his death deeply as our chapter supports each other during this difficult
time.”
University police identified the third victim as Arielle Anderson, a junior who graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School.
“As much as we loved her, she loved us and others even more,” her family said in a statement. “She was passionate about helping her friends and family, assisting children and serving people.” They described her as “sweet and loving,” with an “infectious smile.”