Michigan State University shooter Anthony Mcrae had weapons history
LANSING, Mich. — State officials Tuesday identified 43-year-old Anthony Mcrae, who was charged with multiple gun-related crimes in 2019, as the attacker who shot and killed three people and wounded five others at Michigan State University.
Mcrae, who was found offcampus after dying of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, was identified less than nine hours after police lifted a campus-wide shelter-in-place order following the mass shooting.
Mcrae has a recent history with firearms.
He was arrested in Lansing and charged in June 2019 with carrying a concealed pistol without a concealed carry permit, according to Ingham County court records obtained Tuesday by The Detroit News. The initial charge was a felony that carried a potential penalty of five years in prison, according to the records.
At about 3 a.m. June 7, 2019, an officer encountered Mcrae in Lansing where the officer asked him if he had any weapons on him. Mcrae acknowledged he had a gun but he didn’t have a concealed weapons permit, according to court records.
“He advised the handgun was registered to him,” a court document about the incident said. “He bought it late March at Capital Discount. He was currently trying to obtain a concealed weapons permit.”
In October 2019, Ingham County prosecutors added a second charge against Mcrae: possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle, a misdemeanor.
That same month, October 2019, Mcrae agreed to plead guilty to the lesser misdemeanor charge, and prosecutors dismissed the felony charge.
“We have received numerous requests on this matter and are working to respond to these as accurately and expeditiously as possible under the circumstances,” said Scott Hughes, spokesman for the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday morning.
Mcrae was sentenced in November 2019 to 12 months probation. In October 2020, six additional months were added to his probation, according to court records.