EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University officials and multiple police agencies held a briefing following Monday's mass shooting at the university.
Officials wanted to clear up a few rumors on Thursday and talk about what led up to finding the shooter and what's next for the East Lansing community.
During the briefing, authorities addressed a timeline of events. Officers received tips Monday night about where the alleged shooter was. Anthony McRae, the accused gunman, was located about four miles from the MSU campus walking toward his Lansing home.
When officers approached, he fatally shot himself, police claim.
Officers searched McRae and found bus tickets, two handguns and a note threatening other schools. Police say the handguns were purchased legally but were not registered.
When it comes to rumors, Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee wanted to make a few pieces of information clear. Sosebee said the department has not been called to any shots fired to the shooter's address, they have not done any welfare checks on the suspect and the welfare check on record at an address linked to the suspect was not related to him.
In 2005, McRae was contacted about a larceny complaint from LPD. In 2006 and 2007, he received three traffic violations. In 2019, he was arrested for carrying a gun without a concealed weapon permit.
The students who died were from suburban Detroit: Brian Fraser, 20, Arielle Anderson, 19, and Alexandria Verner, 20.
The chair of the MSU Board of Trustees, Rema Vassar, said the board is planning to meet with students and staff that were on campus Monday night to ask where they felt the safest so they can create more places like that on campus.
"The board is committed to making sure that we are united on the other end of this and that Spartans from all over the globe can come to this campus and feel like they can be safe," Vassar said. "We will not have our safety and security stolen by a man with a gun and a senseless act of violence."
Along with that, police said they want to get input from the community because many of the lead investigators and officers are MSU alumni, and making a change is personal for them.
"We are truly invested in what we have here, and we're going to keep it but it opens discussions for how we proceed and how we create that environment, it's not just up to us, we're going to have discussions with our community and this is a societal issue as well," Chief of MSU police Marlon Lynch said.
Berkey Hall, one of the buildings where the shootings took place, will be closed for the rest of the semester.
After the shooting at Oxford High School, its building was remodeled. Sandy Hook Elementary School was torn down. Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, will be torn down and rebuilt. It's not clear if something similar will happen to Berkey Hall before a reopening.
Classes are still suspended until Monday.