Michigan State University shooting: Gun violence reared its ugly head once again in the United States Monday night, this time at a university in the state of Michigan.
A gunman opened fire on the main campus of Michigan State University, leaving three people dead and injuring five. An hours-long manhunt for the suspect ended with him being found dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot, police said. Here’s all we know about the shooting till now.
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About the Michigan State University shooting
The police initially responded to a shooting at Berkey Hall at Michigan State University at around 8:30 pm .Later, another shooting was reported at another location in the campus. While the sequence of events isn’t exactly clear, Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the university police, told reporters that shots were fired at an academic building called Berkey Hall and the Michigan State University (MSU) Union building.
After the police reached the site, they found victims at both locations, Rozman told reporters at the televised briefing.
The suspect was at large and the police had issued a shelter-in-place alert. He was believed to be on foot and acting alone in the incident.
While fatalities weren’t reported initially and there were reports of five people being injured, Rozman later said three victims had been killed in the incident. Five others had been taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Lansing, the state capital, and all of them are said to be in a critical condition. Two of the dead were at Berkey Hall and the other at the Michigan State University (MSU) Union.
About the Michigan State University shooter
The suspect in the shooting was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following an hours-long manhunt. The MSU police had earlier released two still images of the suspect from surveillance video. He could be seen walking into a building, then mounting a short flight of stairs, wearing a jacket, a baseball cap and a black mask over his lower face. He was holding what appeared to be a pistol in one hand.
The gunman was said to be 43-years-old and had no known affiliation to the university. The motive for the shootings is unclear, police said at an early morning news briefing more than five hours after the violence began.
Police hasn’t yet revealed any information about the suspect in the Michigan State University shooting, including his name.
“We have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight,” Rozman told reporters.
The gunman was confirmed dead roughly four hours after the bloodshed had started, Rozman said.
“There is no longer a threat to campus. We believe there to be only one suspect in this incident,” he said.
Rozman further informed that the suspect “was contacted by law enforcement off campus” at one point. The scene is being investigated as a crime scene, he added.
However, it isn’t known whether the gunman was found dead after being confronted by the police, or whether he took his own life during such an encounter with the police.
Classes cancelled
MSU officials told Monday night that all classes and school activities stand canceled for 48 hours at the university’s East Lansing campus. The campus is a a public academic centre where around 50,000 students, mostly undergraduates, study.
“We will take two days … to give ourselves time to think and to grieve and to be together,” MSU president Teresa Woodruff said early Tuesday.
