MSU Shooter Is Dead After Killing Three, Injuring At Least Five
Just after midnight on Tuesday, Feb. 14, police in the East Lansing area reported the man responsible for a mass shooting on Michigan State University’s campus died by his own hand. According to officials at an MSU press conference held at about 12:30 a.m., the man shot himself after being cornered by police.
The shooter has not yet been identified.
As of this time, reports indicate three people dead and at least five injured, three of them “with life-threatening injuries.” Victims are being treated at Sparrow Hospital and have not yet been identified.
The shelter-in-place order instituted throughout the city limits was lifted early this morning.
The shooting is reported to have begun at Berkey Hall at approximately 8:18 pm. The suspect is reported to have then gone to the MSU Union and continued shooting there.
MSU has announced that all activities including classes and sporting events are canceled at MSU for the next two days, through Wednesday night. People are asked not to come to campus. Multiple crime scenes are cordoned off and are being investigated.
Anyone with information is asked to contact MSU police by calling MSU police or emailing tips@police.msu.edu.
Superintendent Dori Leyko has announced there will be no school on Tuesday, Feb. 14, for East Lansing Public Schools.
Many other school districts in the area will also be closed.
At East Lansing High School, Monday night’s meeting of the East Lansing Public Schools Board of Education was suspended due to the emergency alerts. Leyko had been scheduled to deliver an update presentation on a school safety plan but the meeting was prematurely ended before that presentation.
One of the people giving public comment at the meeting was former School Board member Nichole Martin, who works in the area of child welfare and who served on the district’s Mental Health Advisory Committee.
During the lockdown that lasted for several hours at the high school, Martin told ELi, “The community will need an opportunity to provide safe spaces where people can be vulnerable regardless of what reactions they have had.”
She added, “We can’t say it couldn’t happen here. Because it can and it does. It is part of the reason people are so concerned about having the right supports in the right places.”
Update, 2:05 a.m.: East Lansing’s Interim City Manager Randy Talifarro issued a statement saying the city is in mourning and thanking first responders.
According to the press release, “Community members are advised that City of East Lansing offices will be closed to the general public on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Buildings and offices that will be closed include East Lansing City Hall, the East Lansing Public Library, East Lansing Prime Time, the East Lansing 54B District Court and the East Lansing Department of Public Works. The East Lansing Hannah Community Center will have a delayed opening at 8 a.m. and drop-in counseling services will be available for the community beginning at 9 a.m. Essential City of East Lansing employees will be reporting to work.”