(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — Law enforcement officials on Tuesday named Anthony Dwayne McRae, a 43-year-old resident of Lansing, Michigan, as the suspect in the overnight shooting at Michigan State University that took the lives of three students and wounded five others.
McRae led police on an hours-long manhunt before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound as law enforcement approached him, a law enforcement source briefed on the situation said.
The source added that a firearm was recovered at the scene, and a second firearm was found in a backpack along with numerous magazines.
Officials are now combing through McRae’s social media accounts and online writings for any extremist views, including indications of misogyny, satanic musings, possible conspiracy theories and signs of isolation, sources said.
McRae served 18 months in prison between 2019 and 2021 on a weapons charge for having a loaded weapon in his vehicle, according to the state’s Department of Corrections. The offense took place in Ingham County, which covers East Lansing. He is listed on the Department of Corrections website as a 5′ 4″ male.
Police in Ewing, New Jersey, shared a statement on Tuesday noting that McRae “had a note in his pocket that indicated a threat to two Ewing Public Schools” and that an “investigation revealed that McRae had a history of mental health issues.”
McRae “had local ties to Ewing,” police said in the statement.
In nearby Trenton, police sent officers to local schools early Tuesday out of an abundance of caution.
John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former Homeland Security official, said that based on what has been publicly reported, “this appears to be yet another in a growing list of angry, isolated, socially disconnected individuals who ultimately decided that violence is an appropriate way to express their anger at society and their personal existence.”
“If history is an indicator,” Cohen said, “we will also learn that there were points in time when his online and physical behavior should have raised red flags.”
On Tuesday afternoon, police in Michigan released the names of the victims, all of whom were students at the university.
McRae had no known affiliation with Michigan State University, a school spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
(EAST PALESTINE, Ohio) — Ben Ratner has spent a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to survive a freight train chemical disaster. After all, he appeared in a movie about it.
In 2020, Ratner and some family members traveled from his home in East Palestine, Ohio, to a nearby town, to be extras in “White Noise,” a film about a train crash that unleashes environmental havoc on a small Ohio community, forcing locals to evacuate their homes.
Now, the plot is too real.
“I tried watching [the movie] shortly after all of this,” he told “Start Here”. “I got about 10 or 15 minutes in and… it’s no longer entertaining.”
Ratner lives with his wife and four children in East Palestine, less than a mile from the site where the Norfolk Southern rail cars barreled off the tracks on Feb. 3. While they spent the first night gazing at flames, they began choking on fumes the next day.
“You could taste it in the air. It was like a mix of gasoline, paint thinner and nail polish remover,” he said, describing his rush to escape as officials ordered evacuations.
In recent days, as the EPA has declared the air safe, many residents jumped at the chance to return. Ratner says his family took a few extra days, but eventually made the decision to come home. There weren’t many other options.
“You know, our kids go to school here,” he said, adding it would be nearly impossible to sell his home or the cafe he runs nearby. “[I’m] definitely feeling very trapped by the situation, [it’s] hard to balance the safety and well-being of everybody with the kids wanting to kind of get back to their normal lives.”
As for East Palestine, this town of 5,000 people has always revolved, in one way or another, around these train tracks. They cut right through the center of town, with trains running “every 13 minutes.” But in recent years, Norfolk Southern has cut thousands of jobs — leading to many locals wondering if this rail car’s broken axel could have been avoided.
“They call them bomb trains,” said Ratner, describing trains barreling through town at high rates of speed with flammable materials.
Now, the trains are back — even more often than days past, as freighters try to make up for delayed deliveries.
“Not to sound overly like emotional about things, but I mean, there is a level of PTSD whenever — it’s like, ‘oh, God, why do we have to hear these trains again already?'” Ratner said. “Like, there’s no understanding of the level of chaos that people went through. And… immediately they’re back. [Most] people aren’t even back into their homes.”
From his home, though, Ratner can hear the trains — every few minutes.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — Garnell Whitfield Jr., whose 86-year-old mother died in the Tops supermarket massacre last May, said he’s not interested in hearing what the gunman has to say when he plans to apologize to victims’ families on Wednesday.
“Nothing he’s going to say to me is going to bring my mother back. It’s not going to take away the pain of losing her,” Whitfield, the retired Buffalo fire commissioner, told ABC News. “I’m assuming that whatever he’s doing, he’s doing it for himself.”
Payton Gendron, the 19-year-old gunman who killed 10 people on May 14, is set to be sentenced in Erie County Court in Buffalo to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He pleaded guilty in November to 15 charges, including murder and attempted murder. He is the first person in state history to be charged with domestic terrorism motivated by hate. He has pleaded guilty.
In addition to the state case, he is facing hate and domestic terrorism charges in federal court. His attorneys said he might consider pleading guilty if prosecutors agree not to pursue the death penalty.
Gendron, a self-professed white supremacist who livestreamed part of the attack, plans to make a statement at Wednesday’s hearing, in which he is expected to apologize to the loved ones of those he gunned down, sources told The Buffalo News.
Wayne Jones, whose 65-year-old mother was killed in the rampage, said he plans to speak at the sentencing hearing.
“My message for him will be [about] mistakes, that there are mistakes you can’t take back and now you have to live with the consequences,” Jones told ABC News. “He can apologize. I’ll respect that, but he needs to sit and think about the situation as much as I do everyday. For me, it never goes away.”
Jones and Whitfield are among the family members of those killed who have submitted victim impact statements to the court.
Attorney John Elmore, who represents three families that lost loved ones in the attack, said more than a dozen people are expected to deliver victim impact statements before Judge Susan Eagan imposes the sentence.
Whitfield told ABC News on Tuesday he’s yet to decide whether to read the statement in court, saying, “If I do, it will be on behalf of my father.”
Whitfield’s father, 88-year-old Garnell W. Whitfield Sr., suffers from dementia and lives in a nursing home.
Gendron planned the massacre for months — including previously traveling twice to the Tops store he targeted, a more than three-hour drive from his home in Conklin, New York — to scout the layout and count the number of Black people present, according to prosecutors. Wearing tactical gear, body armor, and wielding an AR-15 style rifle he legally purchased and illegally modified, Gendron committed the rampage on a Saturday afternoon when prosecutors said he knew the store would be full of Black shoppers.
The attack was caught on a Tops supermarket surveillance camera and a helmet camera worn by Gendron that he used to livestream on Twitch. Prior to the attack, he also posted a racist screed online containing the names of past mass shooters he admired.
“Whatever he does in court is a procedural thing. His fate is sealed, there’s no discretion in the sentencing. It’s life without parole, period,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield said any statement he makes will be focused on “the people and places and things that empowered him, that radicalized him, that helped him do what he did.”
In October, New York State Attorney General Letitia James released the report, alleging several online platforms played roles in the May 14 mass shooting by radicalizing Gendron, as he consumed voluminous amounts of racist and violent content, and then by allowing him to broadcast the deadly attack. The report found anonymous, largely unmoderated websites and platforms, like 4chan, allegedly influenced Gendron. It also said livestreaming platforms like Twitch were “weaponized” to publicize and encourage copycat attacks.
Ordinarily, social media platforms cannot be sued over content, but Elmore told ABC News there are grounds for viable suits against several social media platforms over the way they’re designed to promote constant engagement. “The litigation we are preparing will deter the social media platforms from continuing their policies of directing their algorithms to radicalize people to become dangerous to our society,” Elmore said.
Elmore added that Gendron “was trained and inspired to commit this tremendous murder by social media.”
“All those things are still in place and still in a position to continue the perpetuation of all the injustices and evils that are part of our society,” Whitfield said. “[Gendron] did this for attention. Let’s not give it to him.”
(HOUSTON, Texas) — The FBI has opened an investigation into allegations of federal rights violations following the deaths of two inmates at the Harris County Jail in Texas after a request by the sheriff’s office.
“These investigations will be fair, thorough, and impartial, and will proceed independently of any state investigations involving incidents at the jail. To preserve the integrity and capabilities of the investigations, no details of the ongoing process will be publicly shared,” FBI Houston said in a statement Monday.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez had reached out to the FBI to investigate the deaths of Jaquaree Simmons who died in February 2021 and Jacoby Pillow who died in January 2023, while they were in the custody of the Harris County Jail.
“Last week, I reached out to James Smith, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston Field Office, to have his agents review the circumstances surrounding two men’s deaths in our jail because I want our community to fully trust our commitment to transparency and full accountability,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “I look forward to learning the FBI’s findings, because we must all know the full truth if we are to improve our operation and make the jail as safe as possible for everyone entrusted into our care.”
The announcement also came after a Houston press conference with attorneys Ben Crump and Paul Grinke Monday afternoon requesting the Department of Justice open an investigation.
“It’s appalling that you would have 32 detainees (die) in the Harris County Jail in a 14-month period,” Crump said during the press conference. “I mean, nobody would really believe it unless you have these bodies that showed you it was really happening.”
According to the county records, 21 inmates died in custody in 2021, and according to attorneys, last year, at least 28 inmates lost their lives in Harris County Jail.
The press release continues that the total number of deaths in 2023 is “at least four.”
Pillow, 31, was arrested for trespassing, a misdemeanor, on New Year’s Day. He was in the process of being released from Harris County Jail on a $100 bond early the next day but had an altercation with officers, resulting in additional charges. The release also said that officials used force to restrain Pillow and that he was evaluated and returned to his cell.
Pillow was found unresponsive in his cell on Jan. 3 and later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
“We have credible reason to believe that Jacoby Pillow died from compression asphyxia from being restrained, similar to George Floyd,” Grinke said during Monday’s press conference. “We have also credible reasons to believe that there will be evidence that he was beaten multiple times by correctional officers.”
While the family has asked for autopsy results and more information on his death, the jail said his death is currently under a “pending investigation.”
Pillow’s younger sister, Ariana Pillow, is a former employee of Harris County and accounted for her experience relating to the situation during the press conference.
“Being a former employee in Harris County working for pretrial (services), I’ve literally witnessed correctional staff mistreat detainees because they were in need of insulin for diabetes or other medical issues, and I’ve literally witnessed them being the reason for altercations taking place between them and detainees, and it’s not fair, and it’s not right,” Ariana Pillow said between tears.
Crump is representing the families of Pillow and other families of those who have died in the jail: Gary and Kevin Smith Jr., an uncle and nephew who died in jail last month, and Kristan Nicole Smith, who died last May.
Crump is not publicly representing the family of Simmons, the other subject of the FBI’s investigation.
Simmons, 23, was arrested and put in jail on Feb. 10, 2021, and died of blunt-force head trauma seven days later on Feb. 17, 2021, according to his custodial death report.
The sheriff’s office completed 73 interviews, but none of the 1,490 cameras inside the jail captured video evidence of the confrontation leading to Simmons’ death, KMBC reported.
Court documents showed the Morales caused Simmons’ death by dropping him on his head, kneeing him in the head, striking his head against the door and striking his head against the wall. Morales is the first detention officer to be charged with the death of an incarcerated man in Harris County.
His death led to the Harris County Jail conducting an internal investigation resulting in the termination of 11 detention officers and a suspension of six last May. One of the involved officers, Eric Morales, was charged with manslaughter earlier this month.
Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office issued a response to the charges on Feb. 6.
“The Houston Police Department conducted a separate criminal investigation into the events surrounding Simmons’ death. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office recently presented the results of the HPD investigation to a grand jury, which issued an indictment against Eric Morales, a former detention officer, alleging he committed the crime of manslaughter. Morales was among the 11 employees fired as a result of the Sheriff’s Office internal investigation,” the statement said.
ABC News reached out to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and has not yet received a response.
Crump is working with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee regarding the case, and Crump told the press she will be meeting with the families.
(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — Three students were killed and five others were wounded in Monday night’s mass shooting at Michigan State University.
The Michigan State University Police Department has released the names of two of the young lives lost. The third victim’s name was not released per the family’s wishes, police said.
Brian Fraser
Brian Fraser was a sophomore from Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
Fraser was president of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Michigan State.
“As the leader of his chapter, Brian was a great friend to his Phi Delt brothers, the Greek community at Michigan State, and those he interacted with on campus,” Phi Delta Theta said in a statement.
Alexandria Verner
Alexandria Verner was a junior from Clawson, Michigan.
Verner, who graduated from Clawson High School in 2020, “was a tremendous student, athlete, leader,” Clawson Public Schools said in a statement.
She “exemplified kindness every day of her life,” the school district said. “If you knew her, you loved her and we will forever remember the lasting impact she has had on all of us.”
Verner is survived by her parents, sister and brother, according to the school district.
(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.
(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.”
(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.”
(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.
(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.
