(Source: MIRS.news, Published 4/27/2023) Michigan State University police said Thursday that they’ve found “no conclusive motive” as to why a gunman targeted the campus as he had no personal or professional connection with the school in recent history.
Investigators determined the note Anthony McRae, who had a blood-alcohol level of .04 and THC in his system, had at the time of his death “provides the most information about his state of mind at the time of the shooting,” police said in an update released Thursday.
The note, released in March, reads that McRae is “tired of being rejected,” “outcast,” “loner,” and “people hate me.” He asks: “They hate me why? Why? Why? Why?” which was followed by a drawing of a person with a hat. The note also included a stick-figure face crying.
Thursday’s update also included a more detailed timeline of Feb. 13 and Feb. 14. McRae fired the first of eight shots at 8:18 p.m. at Berkey Hall. He fired more at 8:26 p.m. at the Union.
In all, police found 14 bullet casings in Berkey Hall and three in the Union. They also found one bullet casing outside of the Human Ecology Building and believe that McRae fired that one shot outside while walking from Berkey Hall to the Union.
As McRae walked away from campus, he left two people dead at Berkey and one dead at the Union as well as five critically wounded.
Police said that McRae used a Taurus G3 9mm handgun he had purchased in October 2021 in the shooting. The handgun was loaded with 13 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber when it was recovered.
Police also recovered a Hi-Point C-9 9mm handgun from McRae that he had purchased in September 2021.
The Hi-Point was loaded with nine rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber when it was recovered, and McRae had one extra loaded magazine for the Taurus in the chest pocket of his coat. He had 10 extra magazines for the Hi-Point in his backpack and 136 rounds of loose ammunition in his backpack.
Police said McRae used a Michigan identification card and Social Security card to legally purchase the handguns, but he did not register either weapon.
More than three hours after the shooting, McRae took his own life as officers approached him as he walked on Lake Lansing Road near High Street in Lansing.
