“Run, hide, fight," was the message of an emergency broadcast to Michigan State University Students Monday night.
"Run means evacuate away from danger if you can do so safely, hide means to secure-in-place and fight means protect yourself if no other option."
Three students are dead and five remain in critical condition after 43-year-old gunman, Anthony Wayne McRae, opened fire in multiple locations at MSU in East Lansing, Michigan.
The first shots were reported around 8:30 p.m. Monday before the shooting took place in two public locations – Berkey Hall and the MSU Union – according to police reports.
A nearly three-hour police manhunt followed while students sheltered in place, barricaded in dorms, lounges and classrooms as the gunman remained at large on the five-thousand acre campus.
The gunman was pronounced dead shortly after midnight, found by police with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The motive is still unclear in the ongoing investigation, Interim Deputy Chief of Michigan Police Chris Rozman said in a press conference Tuesday.
Mcrae was neither a student nor staff member at MSU, with his connection to the university unknown, according to police.
“We have no idea why he came to campus to do this,” Rozman said.
Michigan Representative Elissa Slotkin addressed the community in a press conference Tuesday morning, speaking with anger for the young people being killed in the very institutions meant to protect them.
“I am filled with rage that we have to have another press conference to talk about our children being killed in their schools," Slotkin said.
"Please don’t tell me you care about the safety of children if you’re not willing to have a conversation about keeping them safe in a place that should be a sanctuary.”
MSU students learned their campus was under attack the night before the five-year anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting that claimed the lives of 17 students.
The act of violence occurred just 14 months after the Oxford High School shooting in November 2021. Two members of Michigan State’s freshman class, who were present at the Oxford shooting, have now witnessed two mass shootings in less than two years.
Students across the nation woke up yesterday and went about their days – attending classes, campus events, studying and interacting with friends and peers – knowing that, at any moment, an emergency alert could come through.
By LIAM MCGINNES News Editor
Featured images courtesy of @SethTVSports on Twitter and Bill Puglaisn via Getty.