A gunman opened fire Monday night at Michigan State University, killing three people and wounding five more, before fatally shooting himself miles away after an hour-long chase forced frightened students into hiding. in the dark.
Police announced the man’s death early Tuesday morning, four hours after shootings broke out at Berkey Hall, an academic building, and later near MSU Union, a popular dining or study venue.
“It really has been a nightmare that we’re living through tonight,” said Chris Rozman, acting deputy chief of the campus police department.
Hundreds of officers had searched the East Lansing campus, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Detroit, looking for the suspect, whom police described as a short black man wearing red shoes, a jean jacket and a baseball cap. of baseball.
The 43-year-old man was confronted by police off campus before killing himself with a “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Rozman said.
His name was not immediately released, nor were any details about the weapon or what police found at the scene. Rozman said the man was neither a student nor an employee and had no affiliation with the state of Michigan.
“We have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight. That is part of our ongoing investigation,” the deputy chief said.
The Michigan state shooting is the latest in what has become a deadly new year in the US. Dozens of people have been killed in mass shootings so far in 2023, most notably in California, where 11 people died while welcoming the Lunar New Year in a dance hall popular with older Asian Americans.
In 2022, there were more than 600 mass shootings in the US in which at least four people were killed or injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
“This is a uniquely American problem,” lamented Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Rozman said two people died at Berkey and another at MSU Union, while five people were in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital.
At 10:15 p.m., police said Berkey, as well as nearby dormitories, were secured.
Ted Zimbo said he was walking to his residence when he came across a woman with “a ton of blood on her.”
“She told me, ‘Someone came into our classroom and started shooting,’” Zimbo told The Associated Press. “Her hands of hers were completely covered in blood. She was in her pants and her shoes. She said, ‘It’s my friend’s blood.’
Zimbo said the woman went to find a friend’s car while he was returning to his SUV in a parking lot and threw a blanket over himself to hide for three hours.
Before the gunman was found dead, WDIV-TV meteorologist Kim Adams, whose daughter attends Michigan State, told viewers that students were exhausted from the hour-long saga.
“They have been hiding, with all the lights off in a dark room,” Adams said.
Aedan Kelley, a junior who lives less than half a mile east of campus, said he locked the doors and covered the windows “just in case.” The sirens were constant and a helicopter was hovering overhead.
“It’s all very scary,” Kelley said. “And then I have all these people texting me asking if I’m okay, which is overwhelming.”
Michigan State has about 50,000 students, including 19,000 who live on campus. All classes, sports and other activities were canceled for 48 hours.
The university’s interim president, Teresa Woodruff, said it would be a time “to think and cry and come together.”
“This Spartan community, this family, will come together again,” Woodruff said.
