(Editor's note: This story contains graphic language.)
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A Lansing man who shot and killed three Michigan State University students on campus last month and badly wounded five others wrote in a note that was found on him the night of the shooting portrayed himself as a "rejected outcast" and wrote that he didn't want to be an African American.
"Every Where I go people treat me different," wrote Anthony McRae, 43, in a note that police found on him Feb. 13 after he took his own life 3.8 miles from campus. "I don't want to be an American african I m a person Why do people hate me? They never accepted me."
"I'm tired of being rejected outcast loner people hate me They made me who I'm am today a killer."
In the two-page handwritten note note, dated Feb. 12, 2023, the day before the shooting, and obtained Friday through a Freedom of Information request, McRae wrote that he is the leader of a group of 20 and he would be "shooting up MSU.
"some of the other groups will be going to Coloroda (sic) Springs to "shoot up" (redaction), it reads. "They hurt me."
He also outlined other targets including East Lansing, Old Town Lansing, Holt, DeWitt and New Jersey.
Police say that McRae had a history of mental health issues and was charged with multiple gun-related crimes in 2019.
The note ― which began and ended with "Why? Why? Why?" ― began with him apologizing for his handwriting and includes a stick-figure drawing with a face crying. It also introduced himself.
"Hi My name is Anthony McRae."
Midway through the note, McRae referenced his father, Michael McRae, who told The Detroit News that his son was a loner and took a downward turn after his mother died.
In an interview with The Detroit News days after the shooting, Michael McRae said he had no idea that his son would be the suspected killer behind the nation's 67th mass shooting in 2023. The father also said he hurt by the devastation his son caused, and called for gun control legislation.
Michael McRae could not be reached for comment Friday morning.
In his note, Anthony McRae wrote "My father as (sic) nothing to do with this."
On Feb. 13, McRae terrorized campus for several hours before he was finally find by police miles from his home in Lansing.
Eight MSU students encountered McRae who first went to Berkey Hall and the MSU union before killing himself about 4 miles from campus in Lansing.
Among those who died were 19-year-old Arielle Anderson of Harper Woods, 20-year-old Alexandria Verner of Clawson, who were inside of Berkey Hall; and 20-year-old Brian Fraser of Grosse Pointe who was in the MSU student union.
Of the five MSU students who were badly wounded and hospitalized, three students have since been released. The wounded include include John Hao, a 20-year-old student from China who was paralyzed from the waist down; Nate Statly, a 20-year-old junior who sustained a severe head injury; Guadalupe Huapilla-Perez, a junior who underwent at least one surgery and faced an additional two more, according to family and friends who identified them through GoFundMe pages to raise money for their care.
Troy Forbush, an Okemos resident, took a bullet to the chest and identified himself on social media after he announced he was among the first to be blessed to be discharged from Sparrow Hospital.
