On Feb. 13, a lone gunman walked onto the Michigan State University campus in Lansing, Michigan and opened fire, killing three students and wounding five others before taking his own life.

The gunman was identified as 43-year-old Anthony McRae, a Lansing resident who had no prior relationship to the university. MacRae walked into a classroom carrying two 9mm handguns and shot several students. As chaos erupted, he made his way to the main student center, shooting even more students. Three students were killed during his rampage: Arielle Anderson, Alexandria Verner and Brian Fraser. Additionally, another five were injured, four of which were left in critical condition and another being paralyzed from the waist-down.

Campus and local police responded within minutes, with a shelter-in-place order being issued for both students and any nearby Lansing residents. Law enforcement eventually confronted and cornered McRae nearby. He died shortly after of a self-inflicted gunshot.

In the aftermath, the university shut down all activities for 48 hours and canceled all classes until the following Monday. In addition, the two buildings where the shootings took place were ordered to be closed off for the rest of the semester (with the exception of the student center which will not host classes but will resume its regular duties).

Shortly afterward, a sit-down protest was orchestrated by Michigan State students at the State House in Lansing in collaboration with students from Oxford High School, a Michigan high school that suffered a similar mass shooting event in November 2021. In the time since the shooting, the Michigan State Senate has introduced almost a dozen new gun control bills.

“As Americans, we hold ourselves to a high standard compared to other nations but rank incredibly high in gun violence” said Mallory Dunlap ‘25, the Vice-President of the John Carroll branch of Students Demand Action.

“No one should ever be afraid to go to school, work, the grocery store, or live life, but we are…Mass shootings should not be expected; in fact, they should not be happening, which is why I question gun legislation or lack thereof. We must stop preparing students for gun violence and instead focus on the root cause and common sense ways to limit them.”

As of the time of this writing, McRae’s motive for the shooting is still unknown.