The three students killed in Monday’s shooting at Michigan State University have been identified.
MSU police identified two of the victims as Brian Fraser and 20-year-old Alexandria Verner. Grosse Pointe Public Schools confirmed the third victim is 19-year-old Arielle Anderson.
All three are from Detroit. Fraser, a sophomore and president of MSU’s Phi Delta Theta chapter, and Anderson, a junior, were both from Grosse Pointe. Verner, another MSU junior, was from Clawson.
The family of Arielle Anderson released the following statement:
“We lost our precious daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, and friend, Arielle Anderson. She means the world to us. As much as we loved her, she loved us and others even more. She was passionate about helping her friends and family, assisting children and serving people.
Driven by her aspiration to tend to the health and welfare of others as a surgeon, she was working diligently to graduate from Michigan State University early to achieve her goals as quickly as possible.
As an Angel here on Earth, Arielle was sweet and loving with an infectious smile that was very contagious.
We are absolutely devastated by this heinous act of violence upon her and many other innocent victims.
While we appreciate the outpouring of the love, support, and prayers we have received thus far, we are grieving and hope that you respect our family’s wishes to remain private at this time.”
A vigil will be held to honor and remember the victims at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the MSU rock.
The five wounded remain in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital.
“Without going into the specifics of their injuries, I will say that it took a team of numerous anesthesiologists, trauma surgeons, general surgeons, cardiothoracic surgery, and a neurosurgery team, to handle the full extent of the injuries,” said Dr. Denny Martin. “There was one individual whose wounds did not require immediate surgical intervention and were taken directly to the ICU from the emergency room.”
Statement from Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety:
“The Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety (MSU DPPS) is saddened to share information regarding the tragedy that occurred on campus Monday evening. We cannot begin to fathom the immeasurable amount of pain that our campus community is feeling. We want to ensure our community that our department as well as our law enforcement partners will conduct a comprehensive and thorough investigation regarding this tragic incident. Five victims remain in the hospital in critical condition. The deceased victims have been identified as the following:
With respect to the family’s wishes, we will not be releasing the third victim’s name at this time. We sincerely ask the media and community members to respect the families’ privacy.
The first call reporting an active shooter took place at 8:18 p.m. at Berkey Hall. A shelter-in-place was immediately put into place for campus and the surrounding community. The MSU Alert system and MSU Emergency Operations Center were both immediately activated. Officers from all across the state responded to campus and began to complete a comprehensive search in attempt to locate the suspect.
The suspect was captured on campus security cameras at approximately 11:00 p.m. The suspect photos were disseminated across MSU DPPS social media channels and through our media partners at 11:18 p.m. Because of the quick release of photos, a caller’s tip was able to lead officers to the suspect at approximately 11:35 p.m., only 17 minutes after the release of the photos.
We sincerely want to thank our community for their active efforts in helping us locate the suspect. This is a prime example of how ‘See Something, Say Something’ is effective and works to help keep our community safe. The suspect has been identified as 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
We know this news may be difficult for those within our campus community and beyond. It’s important to remember that the grief some individuals may be experiencing is normal and there are a number of ways in which individuals can seek support, including talking with friends, family and colleagues to process this. Resources are listed below and are also available at the Hannah Community Center on Abbot Road in East Lansing.
Effective immediately, Michigan State University is now operating under modified operations/services for today, Feb. 14 and Wednesday, Feb. 15. We will resume normal operations on Thursday, Feb. 16th. All campus activities including athletics, classes (in person and remote), and all campus-related activities remain suspended. Functions designated as essential under a department’s Business Continuity Plan (BCP) will continue and critical employees with essential functions must report to work.
We will stand together as a community and support one another during this difficult time.”
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