The man who shot eight students at Michigan State University, killing three, had two handguns that were purchased legally but not registered, police said Thursday.
The 9mm guns, ammunition and a two-page note in his pocket were found with Anthony McRae when he killed himself Monday night after being confronted by police, said deputy campus police chief Chris Rozman.
Investigators said they still were trying to pin down a motive, three days after the violence at the East Lansing campus, but they described the 43-year-old McRae as a loner.
“He felt he was slighted in some way from people or businesses,” said Rozman, adding, however, that McRae had no connection to Michigan State as a student or employee.
The shootings took place at Berkey Hall, an academic building, and the MSU Union.
The students who died were from suburban Detroit: Brian Fraser, 20, Arielle Anderson, 19, and Alexandria Verner, 20.
One of the five injured students was upgraded to stable condition at Sparrow Hospital.
The others remained in critical condition but with “signs of improvement,” interim university President Teresa Woodruff said.
Investigators interviewed McRae's father, who said his son had no friends and mostly stayed in a room at their Lansing home, said Lt. Rene Gonzalez of the state police.
McRae walked nearly four miles (6km) toward his home after the shootings and said nothing before killing himself in front of police, Gonzalez said.
Classes remain suspended through the weekend. Berkey Hall, an academic building, will stay closed through the spring term, Woodruff said.
The briefing by police followed a Wednesday night vigil on campus that drew thousands of students. Tom Izzo, the university’s revered basketball coach and father of a student, offered words of comfort.
“Our hearts are heavy. Our loss has been great. Our lives have been permanently changed,” said Izzo, head coach since 1995.
“But with a shared commitment to help each other, and a promise to remember those we have lost, we will learn to find joy once again.”
The shooter's father, Michael McRae said in an interview on Tuesday that his son withdrew from society and became isolated after his mother's death two years ago.
Michael McRae stated that his son had a tough time dealing with the loss of his mother, Linda McRae, and his personality and perspective on life altered after she died of a stroke on September 13, 2020.
According to his father, Anthony McRae was very close to his mother, and they had a tight bond like siblings.
"He was a mama's boy. He loved his mom. They were tight. His mom was like his sister," Michael McRae said, adding that "everything happened so fast".
Following his mother's abrupt passing, Anthony McRae resigned from his job at a warehouse, where he loaded refrigerators onto delivery trucks, and spent his days holed up in his room playing video games.
