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(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — Three students were killed and five other students were injured by a gunman who opened fire at an academic building and the student union on the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing on Monday night, police said.

After an hours-long manhunt, police found the 43-year-old suspect, Anthony McRae, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound off campus.

All five injured students remain in critical condition Tuesday morning, officials said.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Feb 14, 8:47 AM EST
No motive known

No motive is known, police said. The 43-year-old suspect, Anthony McRae, had no known connection to the university, according to authorities.

After police released the suspect’s photo, a tip from a caller led authorities to finding him, officials said.

A search warrant has been executed at a home, police said.

Feb 14, 8:14 AM EST
Michigan leaders call out US gun violence

At a news conference Tuesday, Michigan leaders called out the prevalence of U.S. gun violence.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said, “I cannot believe I am here again doing this 15 months later,” speaking at the scene of another Michigan school shooting, referring to the November 2021 mass shooting at Oxford High School where four students were killed and several others were injured.

“I am filled with rage that we have to have another press conference about our children being killed in schools,” she said.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer added, “We’re all broken by an all-too-familiar feeling.”

“We cannot keep living like this,” she said. “Our children are scared to go to school. People feel unsafe in their houses of worship or local stores.”

Feb 14, 6:00 AM EST
City manager thanks ‘brave’ first responders after ‘horrific act of violence’

Interim East Lansing City Manager Randy Talifarro described Monday night’s mass shooting at Michigan State University as a “horrific act of violence.”

“The City of East Lansing is mourning the devastating shooting that occurred on the campus of Michigan State University tonight,” Talifarro said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to all of the victims of this horrific act of violence as well as their family and friends. East Lansing and MSU have always shared in each other’s victories and each other’s losses. Tonight, we hold space while we grapple with this devastating loss of life together.”

Talifarro also thanked the “brave first responders who quickly responded to MSU’s campus.”

“Against every natural instinct they ran towards the sound of danger, seeking not their own wellbeing, but instead to protect and serve those in need,” he said. “And we stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone impacted by tonight’s events. Please know that you’re not alone in your grief. We stand with you and will be here as we seek to heal as a community.”

City buildings and offices, including city hall, the public library and the district court, will be closed to the general public on Tuesday. Essential city employees will be reporting to work.

Drop-in counseling services will be available for members of the community at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

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(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — Michigan State University student Dominik Molotky was in class on Monday evening when he heard a gunshot in the hallway, just outside the door.

“I was sitting next to the nearest door and thank god that my fight-or-flight response kicked in because, right when that first gunshot went off, I booked it to the far corner of the class,” Molotky, a senior, told ABC News in an interview Tuesday on Good Morning America.

A couple seconds later, the gunman entered the classroom and fired “three to four more rounds,” Molotky said.

“I was ducking and covering,” he recalled. “I think one of the students in my class got hit.”

When the gunfire stopped for “30 seconds to a minute,” Molotky said, he and his classmates started breaking open a window so they could escape.

“There was glass everywhere,” he added. “We broke open the window and climbed out of there, and I booked it back to my apartment.”

Molotky and other students recounted their horrifying experiences as the mass shooting unfolded at multiple locations on MSU’s main campus in East Lansing, Michigan. At least three people were killed and five others were wounded, police said. The suspect — identified as a 43-year-old man with no known ties to the university — was later found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

MSU graduate student Graham Diedrich said he was working at the writing center in the university’s library on campus when he heard police sirens outside. He noticed other students looking at their cellphones with concern, so he checked his email and found a message from the university offering advice on what to do during a mass shooting: “Run, hide, fight.”

“That’s when we kind of knew what was going on,” Diedrich told ABC News in an interview late Monday.

Diedrich said he never heard any gunshots, but he and other students decided to barricade themselves in a study room in the back of the library for safety. They stacked chairs, tables and a shelving unit to block the glass door and windows.

“We wanted to protect ourselves and make sure that there was no glass, no way that you could see into the room,” he added. “We dimmed the lights.”

Diedrich said they were told by the university and police to shelter in place. They were still barricaded in the library when Diedrich spoke to ABC News.

“I didn’t think that it would happen to me. But living in America, you know, you always have to live under the assumption that this will happen to you. It happens to people every day in this country, and we have to consider why,” he said. “It’s not unique, but it’s a lot different when it happens to you.”

MSU students Luke Restrepo and Riley Dorfman said they were in their apartment when they noticed a scene of “absolute chaos” outside their window — police cars speeding by and people running for their lives.

“I called my mom and she was in shock, she was terrified,” Restrepo told ABC News in an interview late Monay. “You never want your kid to call you and say: ‘Oh hey, by the way, the school is under attack, it’s getting shot up a block away from me and I cant guarantee my safety.'”

Dorfman added: “The fact that this has been going on for three hours now and I have to constantly call my mom every 20 minutes to hear her crying, hoping I’m OK, it’s not OK. It shouldn’t happen.”

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(NEW YORK) — A U-Haul driver is in custody after allegedly striking eight people in a “violent rampage” in multiple locations in Brooklyn, New York, on Monday, according to NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell.

Four people have been hospitalized, two in critical condition and two in serious condition, the commissioner said at a news conference.

One victim, a 44-year-old, has died, police sources later told ABC News.

The victims range in age from 30 to 66 years old, the NYPD said.

Four others suffered minor injuries, Sewell said.

One of the eight injured was a police officer who tried to stop the driver, she said.

“We have seven different locations to process,” the commissioner said.

The driver was identified by police sources as 62-year-old Weng Sor. He allegedly screamed that he wanted to die as he sped off and led police on a brief chase, according to a law enforcement official and a local councilman.

He allegedly fled from Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood through Sunset Park before being apprehended a few miles away in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook, ending the 40-minute ordeal.

Police searched the truck and found nothing suspicious, sources said.

U-Haul said in a statement that the truck was rented for 30 days with a return date of March 3, and that the daily cost of the rental was paid in advance and on a valid contract.

“It was an in-town rental, meaning the equipment was supposed to be returned to the location from which it was dispatched,” U-Haul said. “Our customers provide valid identification/driver’s license, valid form of payment, and any additional forms of meaningful assurance our rental agents deem necessary to try to make certain our equipment will be returned in proper condition, and at the stipulated time and place. These criteria must be met before a transaction occurs.”

The company said it has no record of the suspect previously renting with U-Haul prior to this rental.

“U-Haul is working closely with law enforcement officials to meet their needs in this case. Any further details should come from law enforcement,” the company added.

There are no additional credible threats, according to the New York City mayor’s office.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s been briefed on the incident and that New York State Police are on the scene.

“I am praying for everyone who was injured today in Brooklyn,” Hochul tweeted. “Grateful for the swift response of @NYPDnews to apprehend the suspect and of our first responders to tend to those injured.”

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(BURLINGTON, Vt.) — Authorities in Vermont are warning ice fishers to stay off the ice of a lake after three people died after falling into the lake last week.

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department told people on Tuesday not to go on the ice at Lake Champlain while the area experiences warm weather.

According to the U.S. National Weather Service Burlington, the area has experienced temperatures between 7 degrees to 15 degrees above normal in the past week, saying Tuesday that it’s been an “abnormally warm” February so far.

According to Vermont State Police, 62-year-old Wayne Alexander died on Thursday after falling through Lake Champlain’s ice.

Officials found Alexander in the lake around 9:30 p.m. that night, where he was wearing a flotation device.

He was pronounced dead at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, police said.

According to law enforcement officials, two brothers, John Fleury, 71, and Wayne Fleury, 88, were killed after their utility task vehicle (UTV) broke through the ice on Lake Champlain on Saturday.

John Fleury was retrieved from the ice by the South Hero Fire Department and was sent to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Wayne Fleury was found by a driver from Colchester Technical Rescue and was pronounced dead on the scene, according to Vermont State Police.

In a Facebook post, organizers of the 43rd annual Islands Ice Fishing Derby canceled the event “effective immediately” on Saturday at the urging of the local sheriff’s department because of the conditions of the ice at Lake Champlain.

Islands Ice Fishing Derby holds the competition on Lake Champlain and warned participants in a Facebook post on Friday that they shouldn’t fish alone or drive any type of motor vehicle on the ice.

The area near Lake Champlain, which is located between New York and Vermont, has experienced warmer temperatures in recent weeks, according to the NWS Burlington.

Montpelier and St. Johnsbury recently recorded their warmest January on record, according to NWS Burlington.

On Saturday, NWS said that ice thickness on the lakes and ponds in the area are varied because of the “well above normal temperatures” and that it wasn’t absolutely safe.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — At least three people are dead and five others are injured after a gunman opened fire on the main campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing on Monday night, police said.

After an hours-long manhunt, police found the 43-year-old suspect dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound off campus.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Feb 14, 6:00 AM EST
City manager thanks ‘brave’ first responders after ‘horrific act of violence’

Interim East Lansing City Manager Randy Talifarro described Monday night’s mass shooting at Michigan State University as a “horrific act of violence.”

“The City of East Lansing is mourning the devastating shooting that occurred on the campus of Michigan State University tonight,” Talifarro said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to all of the victims of this horrific act of violence as well as their family and friends. East Lansing and MSU have always shared in each other’s victories and each other’s losses. Tonight, we hold space while we grapple with this devastating loss of life together.”

Talifarro also thanked the “brave first responders who quickly responded to MSU’s campus.”

“Against every natural instinct they ran towards the sound of danger, seeking not their own wellbeing, but instead to protect and serve those in need,” he said. “And we stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone impacted by tonight’s events. Please know that you’re not alone in your grief. We stand with you and will be here as we seek to heal as a community.”

City buildings and offices, including city hall, the public library and the district court, will be closed to the general public on Tuesday. Essential city employees will be reporting to work.

Drop-in counseling services will be available for members of the community at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center beginning at 9 a.m. ET.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — Three people are dead and five others are injured after a shooting at multiple locations on Michigan State University’s East Lansing campus Monday night, police said, and a suspect has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The injured victims have been transported to a hospital, MSU Police and Public Safety said during a press briefing. All five remain in critical condition, Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief, said during a press briefing.

Sparrow Hospital Communications Director John Foren confirmed to ABC News that the hospital received five patients from the shooting. Foren did not have an update on their conditions but said they’re not expecting any more patients.

There is no longer a threat on campus and the shelter-in-place order has been lifted, Rozman said. He identified the suspect as a 43-year-old man who was not affiliated with the university.

“He is not a student, faculty, staff,” Rozman said. “And we have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight.”

Police initially received 911 calls of shots fired at 8:18 p.m. in Berkey Hall and located “several” victims there when responding, Rozman said. Police then received a report of another shooting and responded to the MSU Union building, where they found other victims, according to Rozman.

Two of the fatalities were at Berkey Hall and one was at the MSU Union building, Rozman said.

Police are still working to determine the suspect’s identity and possible motive, the interim deputy chief said.

“This is still a fluid situation,” Rozman said. “There are several different crime scenes that we’re processing with our state and federal partners, and still a lot of work that needs to be done.”

Police initially said there were “multiple reported injuries” at IM East, a fitness center on campus.

Police had said that “Brody Hall, Snyder/Phillips Hall, Mason Hall, Abbot Hall, Landon Hall, the MSU Union and Berkey Hall” have been cleared.

Rozman said police had received “multiple” calls from other buildings around the campus as the shooting unfolded. Officers responded, but didn’t find signs of incidents at those locations.

He said his department had begun collecting and analyzing security video from buildings around campus.

“There are surveillance cameras that are going to be useful and helpful in this investigation, that will aid our investigators in putting the pieces together and trying to understand a little more about what happened,” he said.

Authorities told students not to come to campus Tuesday, and that campus activities, including classes and athletics, are canceled for 48 hours.

The City of East Lansing had also tweeted that community members should shelter in place.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she has been briefed on the shooting, tweeting: “The Michigan State Police along with @msupolice, local law enforcement and first responders are on the ground. Let’s wrap our arms around the Spartan community tonight. We will keep everyone updated as we learn more.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Detroit division and FBI are on the scene.

This is the 67th mass shooting of 2023, the Gun Violence Archive said.

“Tonight has been horrific,” Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said early Tuesday.

He said he had heard from concerned community members throughout the region.

“We know that now we have to come together to heal,” Schor said.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BURLINGTON, Vt.) — Authorities in Vermont are warning ice fishers to stay off the ice of a lake after three people died in the last week.

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department told people on Tuesday not to go on the ice at Lake Champlain while the area experiences warm weather.

According to Vermont State Police, 62-year-old Wayne Alexander died after falling through the ice on the lake on Thursday.

Officials found Alexander in the lake around 9:30 p.m. that night, where he was wearing a flotation device.

He was pronounced dead at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, police said.

According to law enforcement officials, two brothers, John Fleury, 71, and Wayne Fleury, 88, were killed after their utility task vehicle broke through the ice on Saturday.

Organizers of the 43rd annual Islands Ice Fishing Derby canceled the event in a post on Facebook on Saturday at the urging of the local sheriff’s department because of the conditions of the ice.

The area near Lake Champlain, which is located between New York and Vermont, has experienced warmer temperatures in recent weeks, according to the U.S. National Weather Service Burlington.

Montpelier and St. Johnsbury recently recorded their warmest January on record, according to NWS Burlington.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — Two storm systems moving across the U.S. have placed 26 states, from California to Kentucky, under snow and wind alerts.

Winter storm watches and advisories are in effect for parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Kansas, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Additionally, winter storm watches are also in effect for the central Rockies and into the Plains with heavy snow this week.

According to meteorologists, this week’s snow will reach more than a foot in parts of the Southwest and Northwest, including parts of Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

The first storm is expected to bring heavy rain from Dallas to Wichita on Tuesday morning, while there is also snow expected across the Pacific Northwest and Northern and Central Rockies.

By Tuesday evening, the storm will likely move into the upper Midwest to areas including St. Louis, Chicago and Minneapolis–Saint Paul, bringing with it rain and snow.

The second storm will likely move east on Wednesday and Thursday, delivering a threat for a severe weather outbreak across parts of the South to the Ohio Valley.

Millions of people from the Florida Panhandle to the Ohio Valley could see scattered severe weather on Thursday.

Americans living in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., will get a preview of spring as temperatures are expected to reach the mid-60s.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A U-Haul driver is in custody after allegedly striking eight people in a “violent rampage” in multiple locations in Brooklyn, New York, on Monday, according to NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell.

Four people have been hospitalized, two in critical condition and two in serious condition, the commissioner said at a news conference.

Four others suffered minor injuries, Sewell said.

One of the eight injured was a police officer who tried to stop the driver, she said.

“We have seven different locations to process,” the commissioner said.

The driver was identified by police sources as 62-year-old Weng Sor. He allegedly screamed that he wanted to die as he sped off and led police on a brief chase, according to a law enforcement official and a local councilman.

He allegedly fled from Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge neighborhood through Sunset Park before being apprehended a few miles away in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook, ending the 40-minute ordeal.

Police searched the truck and found nothing suspicious, sources said.

U-Haul said in a statement that the truck was rented for 30 days with a return date of March 3, and that the daily cost of the rental was paid in advance and on a valid contract.

“It was an in-town rental, meaning the equipment was supposed to be returned to the location from which it was dispatched,” U-Haul said. “Our customers provide valid identification/driver’s license, valid form of payment, and any additional forms of meaningful assurance our rental agents deem necessary to try to make certain our equipment will be returned in proper condition, and at the stipulated time and place. These criteria must be met before a transaction occurs.”

The company said it has no record of the suspect previously renting with U-Haul prior to this rental.

“U-Haul is working closely with law enforcement officials to meet their needs in this case. Any further details should come from law enforcement,” the company added.

There are no additional credible threats, according to the New York City mayor’s office.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s been briefed on the incident and that New York State Police are on the scene.

“I am praying for everyone who was injured today in Brooklyn,” Hochul tweeted. “Grateful for the swift response of @NYPDnews to apprehend the suspect and of our first responders to tend to those injured.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — With the recent shootdowns of “high-altitude objects,” there’s heightened awareness about what’s flying in U.S. airspace, especially weather balloons.

As it turns out, the skies are crowded.

How many weather balloons are there?

On any given day, nearly 1800 weather balloons are launched across the world, including 92 here in the U.S. and U.S. territories, according to the National Weather Service.

Each flight lasts around two hours, during which a balloon drifts up to 125 miles and can reach an altitude of 100,000 feet.

How are weather balloons useful?

According to the NWS, weather balloons are a key tool in forecasting.

Each weather balloon has a device about the size of a shoebox attached to it called a radiosonde. The radiosonde measures pressure, temperature and relative humidity during its flight.

The radiosonde sends data down to monitoring stations every one to two seconds, which also allows researchers to track wind speed and the balloon’s location.

Who tracks weather balloons?

The radiosonde allows the researchers operating the weather balloon to track it. Regulations from the FAA require the balloon’s operator to record the position every two hours.

Operators are also required to “provide traffic advisories to all affected aircraft … specifying the balloon’s known or estimated position, direction of movement, and altitude.”

ABC News aviation analyst and veteran airline captain John Nance said a weather balloon might show up on a radar, but because it doesn’t contain a lot of metal, it is harder for the radar to spot.

“Something slow moving that has very little metal in it will pop up on a regular radar as just a little noise,” Nance said. “In other words you might see it on the sweep and you might not see it for a couple other sweeps and then another sweep [the weather balloon] might pop up again.”

Are weather balloons dangerous for planes?

Weather balloons do pass through the 31,000 – 41,000 commercial airplane cruising altitude range, but are not expected to hover at that range, according to Nance.

“If it’s up there at 60,000 feet or above, there’s really no worry about it conflicting with air traffic unless it starts coming down,” Nance said.

The object shot down Sunday over Lake Huron was said to be floating around 20,000 feet.

“That is definitely right in the middle of air traffic,” Nance said. “You do not want something like that hanging around.”

What happens to a weather balloon?

After about two hours, most weather balloons burst, according to the NWS. The weather balloon can expand to 20 feet in diameter when it reaches bursting altitude.

The radiosonde has a parachute, allowing it to fall back to Earth safely. Each radiosonde also has a mailing bag and instructions on how to return it.

According to the NWS, about 15,000 radiosondes get returned each year out of 75,000 sent out. The government fixes and reuses returned radiosondes, which saves money.

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