Michigan State University shooting suspect Anthony McRae became “mean” and spent most of his time in his room following the death of his mother two years ago, his father told The Independent.
Anthony McRae was identified as the gunman who shot dead three people and wounded five others at the MSU campus in Lansing on Monday night. He allegedly killed himself as police closed in.
His father Michael McRae, 67, shared his shock at the shooting with The Independent on Tuesday.
Mr McRae said he’d been unaware his son had any guns in the house and had told the 43-year-old to get rid of any weapons after Anthony was charged in 2019 with carrying a concealed pistol without a permit and possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle. He pleaded to the second charge, a misdemeanor, and was given probation that ended in 2021.
“I don’t allow guns in my house,” Mr McRae said. “I don’t believe in that. I got my Bible. I didn’t know what he was going on doing and what was in his mind to do.”
Mr McRae said his son had held several good jobs, including seven years at a warehouse, and was extremely close with his mother, Linda, who passed away in 2020 from a stroke. She’d been married for 45 years to Mr McRae, who worked for General Motors for three decades.
“Anthony never got over his grieving,” Mr McRae said.
“He was starting to get mean, kind of like putting himself in his own sheltered world,” he said, adding that he’d worried about his son and asked him repeatedly if he needed help only to be told the 43-year-old was fine.
He said he told his son: “You’ve got an attitude problem -- what’s going on with you? Do you need help?”
The response, he said, was: “I’m okay, dad.”
He said Anthony had not worked in about six months and he’d told his son he’d take him to register for disability and food stamps. Mr McRae urged him to “get a checkup, let them check if you’re over stressed out.”
Instead, his son shut himself off in his room.
“When he’s in his room, I don’t go in there, because he won’t let me in there anyway,” he told The Independent, still speaking of his son in the present tense. Anthony allegedly turned the gun on himself after killing three and injuring five during an armed attack on Michigan State University.
His father said he was unaware of any problems the suspect might have had with MSU or anyone else. The elder McRae was listening to music at home on his radio when a news bulletin broke in about the mass shooting.
“I’m thinking, ‘Oh no, not another one. Oh my God, not another one,’” he said, never once acquainting the incident with his son.
Then he got a phone call.
“My neighbour called me and said, ‘Michael?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Your son was killed,’” he said. “I said, ‘Wait a minute -- what are you talking about?’”
It wasn’t long before another neighbour called to inform him the street was littered with police vehicles and flashing lights. Soon after, officers ordered Mr McRae to come out with his hands up.
“I’m shocked that this happened,” he told The Independent, adding: “I feel like I’m dreaming. It don’t seem real to me.”
He said he’d been unaware of reports that Anthony had been found with notes threatening attacks on two New Jersey schools. He said the family had lived in the state, however, when he worked for GM in Trenton but could recall no problems Anthony may have had. Linda Gail McRae, according to her obituary, was also born and raised in Trenton.
Addressing America’s plague of mass shootings, Mr McRae blamed “what’s going on now with video games and telephone ... this is why they do crazy things, because they’re playig video games. All the game you got are shooting and killing, shooting and killing.”
Still in shock, and supported by his family members, Mr McRae was trying on Tuesday to come to terms with what he was being told about his son.
“I’m so sorry this happened,” he said, extending his condolences to the victims and their families. “God bless them and ... forgive my son for what he’s done.”
