Vigil planned to remember students killed in Michigan State University shooting
An on-campus vigil will be held at Michigan State University Wednesday night to remember the three students killed during a shooting Monday that also injured five others.
Authorities have identified the victims as Brian Fraser, a sophomore originally from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, who was president of his fraternity; Arielle Anderson, a junior from Grosse Pointe who aspired to be a pediatrician and Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson who was an all-star athlete.
Billy Shellenbarger, the superintendent of Clawson Public Schools where Verner was previously a high school student, described her as an "iconic human being."
"Her heart was huge. Her kindness and compassion were second to none," Shellenbarger said.
The five people wounded in the shooting are in critical condition at E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan.
Law enforcement officials identified the shooter as Anthony Dwayne McRae, a 43-year-old man with no obvious affiliation to the school.
Neighbors said the gunman could regularly be heard firing a weapon in the backyard of the Lansing home he lived in with his parents.
He had a criminal record and was sentenced to a year of probation in 2019 for illegally carrying a concealed weapon without a proper permit.
A motive for the shooting remains unknown.
Students received an emergency alert about shots fired inside Berkey Hall, an academic building on the MSU campus, just after 8:15 p.m. Monday.
Destiny Dancy, a student a MSU, said she went into a bathroom, barricaded the door with a couch, and turned all the lights off after receiving the alert.
Ryan Cahalan, a 19-year-old freshman, said he called his family as he hid in the library with his girlfriend — fearing it could be the last time he spoke to them.
"This will always be in the back of my mind," Cahalan said.
The university has postponed classes until Monday, February 20.