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MSU mass shooting live updates: Communities mourn victims at vigils across Michigan

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(EAST LANSING, Mich.) — Three students were killed and five others were injured when a gunman opened fire at two locations on Michigan State University’s main campus in East Lansing on Monday night, police said.

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

All five injured students were in critical condition as of Tuesday, officials said.

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

Feb 15, 1:26 PM EST
MSU students protest at Michigan capitol

Michigan State students channeled their grief into protest as they gathered at the capitol in Lansing to urge gun reform.

Hundreds braved cold and windy weather as they sat on the building’s majestic steps and listened to sympathetic and angry speeches calling for legislative action to curb the violence they and students across the nation have been exposed to.

-ABC News’ Andy Fies

Feb 15, 7:13 AM EST
Communities mourn victims at vigils across Michigan

Hundreds of people gathered at memorials, prayer services and candlelight vigils across Michigan on Tuesday night to honor the three students who were killed and five others who were injured in Monday’s mass shooting at Michigan State University.

More vigils are planned for the rest of the week, including one scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET at The Rock, a 149-year-old landmark on MSU’s main campus in East Lansing.

Feb 15, 6:06 AM EST
MSU students recount deadly mass shooting on campus

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.

Feb 15, 5:42 AM EST
MSU student survives bloodshed 14 months after another mass shooting

ABC News spoke to Matt Riddle, who said his daughter survived the bloodshed at Michigan State University on Monday night, 14 months after surviving another deadly mass shooting at a high school in Oxford, Michigan.

The shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30, 2021, left four people dead and seven others wounded.

“Having been through it in Oxford … it helped her understand what she needs to do in these situations,” Riddle told ABC News during an interview on Tuesday night. “I don’t like that she has those tools. I wish she didn’t, but she does.”

Feb 14, 7:58 PM EST
Classes to resume on Monday

Classes at Michigan State, which have been canceled in the wake of the tragic shooting, will resume on Monday, school officials said.

A vigil is also planned on campus Wednesday night in honor of the victims, all of whom were students at the school, officials said.

“We are devastated by this tragedy and wrap our collective arms around the victims’ families and friends who face unimaginable injury and loss,” Kim Tobin, vice president of university advancement, said in a statement Wednesday announcing the details.

Feb 14, 6:27 PM EST
Victim Arielle Anderson remembered for passion to help others

Arielle Anderson, a junior from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, was one of the three Michigan State students killed in the shooting. Her family remembered her as a “precious daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin, and friend” in a statement shared Tuesday evening through her mother’s employer, Comerica Bank.

“As much as we loved her, she loved us and others even more,” the family said. “She was passionate about helping her friends and family, assisting children and serving people.”

Anderson, who was described as “sweet and loving with an infectious smile,” wanted to be a surgeon, her family said.

“Driven by her aspiration to tend to the health and welfare of others as a surgeon, she was working diligently to graduate from Michigan State University early to achieve her goals as quickly as possible,” the family said.

“We are absolutely devastated by this heinous act of violence upon her and many other innocent victims,” the statement added.

Feb 14, 3:26 PM EST
University releases names of victims

The three Michigan State students killed in the shooting have been identified by university police.

Brian Fraser, a sophomore, and Arielle Anderson, a junior, were both from Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Alexandria Verner, a junior, was from Clawson, Michigan.

Five other students remain in the hospital in critical condition following the attack.

Feb 14, 2:19 PM EST
Suspect walked from his home to campus, viewed himself as ‘loner’

The FBI offered new details on the suspected gunman in a confidential briefing to law enforcement on Tuesday.

Investigators have determined 43-year-old Anthony McRae walked from his home to Michigan State and had no connection to the university or the victims.

Authorities said that when McRae was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he had a “3-page document expressing his reasons for the attack and a number of additional locations in Lansing and Holt, Mich.; Ewing Township and Franklin Park, NJ; and Colorado Springs, Colo., which had ‘hurted’ (sic) him and, therefore, were deserving of attack.” Agents believe he had “personal grievances” with people at those locations.

McRae lived with his father, who is cooperating with the investigation, the FBI reported.

Investigators said the suspect’s writings confirmed he “was often alone.” The briefing said the gunman viewed himself as “a loner” and an “outcast” who was “never noticed or accepted by others.”

-ABC News’ Josh Margolin

Feb 14, 1:12 PM EST
Biden urges Congress to ‘enact commonsense gun law reforms’

President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday, “Our hearts are with these young victims and their families, the broader East Lansing and Lansing communities, and all Americans across the country grieving as the result of gun violence.”

Biden noted that the Michigan State mass shooting came one night before the U.S. marked five years since the Parkland, Florida, high school massacre. In the Feb. 14, 2018 school shooting in Parkland, 17 students and staff were gunned down.

“I have taken action to combat this epidemic in America, including a historic number of executive actions and the first significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years, but we must do more,” Biden said.

He stressed, “Congress must do something and enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, closing loopholes in our background check system, requiring safe storage of guns, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets. Action is what we owe to those grieving today in Michigan and across America.”

Feb 14, 1:04 PM EST
Timeline of the shooting

The first active shooter call came in at 8:18 p.m. from Berkey Hall, an academic building, and the university immediately told students to shelter in place, the Michigan State University Police Department said.

Shots were fired soon after at the student union.

At about 11 p.m., the suspected gunman was seen on campus security cameras, police said.

Images of the suspect were shared with the public at 11:18 p.m., police said.

At about 11:35 p.m., a caller’s tip led police to the suspect, authorities said.

Feb 14, 12:36 PM EST
Suspect had 2 guns, numerous magazines

The suspected shooter, 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae, lived in Lansing, officials said.

The shooter died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as law enforcement was approaching, 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.

McRae served 18 months in prison between 2019 and 2021 on a weapons charge for having a loaded weapon in his vehicle, according to Michigan’s Department of Corrections.

-ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Luke Barr and Josh Margolin

Feb 14, 12:25 PM EST
Michigan State police releases names of 2 victims

Two of the three Michigan State students killed in the shooting have been identified by university police.

Brian Fraser, a sophomore, was from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, while Alexandria Verner, a junior, was from Clawson. Authorities said they will not be naming the third victim at the request of the family.

Five other students remain in the hospital following the attack.

Feb 14, 11:56 AM EST
Shock, fear, confusion at Michigan State

At Michigan State, students and staff are overcome with shock, fear and confusion, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor told ABC News’ GMA3.

“It’s a terrible time. No mayor, no governor, no elected official ever wants to be up all night or wake up to a situation like this,” he said.

Schor said mental health resources are available.

Schor said the five injured students “are critical but stable.”

“It’s touch and go,” he said. “and the doctors are doing their best to work as aggressively as possible.”

Feb 14, 11:02 AM EST
Suspect had note indicating threat to NJ schools

When the suspect, 43-year-old Anthony McRae, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said there was a note in his pocket indicating a threat to two public schools in Ewing, New Jersey, according to Ewing police.

McRae had local ties to Ewing but hasn’t lived in the area in several years, police said.

Ewing Public Schools are closed on Tuesday out of an abundance of caution, police said. However, no threat has been found and schools are expected to reopen on Wednesday, police said.

McRae “had a history of mental health issues,” police added.

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.

Kelsea Ballerini gets intimate on ‘CMT Storytellers’

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Kelsea Ballerini steps into the spotlight Thursday night as the first woman to headline an episode of CMT Storytellers.

Darius Rucker and Brooks & Dunn have previously been featured on the show, which is an extension of the VH1 version where artists tell the intimate stories behind their hits.

“Songwriting is my therapy, my haven, my best friend, and my exhale,” Kelsea reflects. “It’s the purest part of what I do, and I am grateful to join a lineup of storytellers I’ve learned from as I tell mine.”

Look for performances of hits like “Peter Pan,” “homecoming queen?” and “Half of My Hometown,” as well as her latest single, “If You Go Down (I’m Goin’ Down Too).”

Kelsea Ballerini’s episode of CMT Storytellers premieres Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. It’s not the first big event this week for the East Tennessee native: On Valentine’s Day, she released her surprise new EP and short film, Rolling Up the Welcome Mat.

Dave Mustaine wonders what Metallica is “afraid of” in playing with Megadeth I

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

The relationship between Metallica and Megadeth has always been complicated, but the latter’s Dave Mustaine may be reigniting the rivalry with his latest comments.

Speaking with Guitar World, Mustaine suggests that Metallica is avoiding doing a joint show or tour with Megadeth.

“The fact is simple: the world wants to see Megadeth and Metallica play together,” Mustaine says. “And in case anyone is wondering: there’s f***ing money in that. The fans want to see Metallica and Megadeth share the stage.”

As for making that a reality, Mustaine feels the ball is firmly in Metallica’s court.

“Does Megadeth need Metallica? No,” Mustaine says. “But Metallica talks about their fans, but they don’t give them what they’ve been asking for.”

“What are they afraid of?” he adds. “I don’t know. It’s not me; it’s them.”

Mustaine, of course, was Metallica’s original lead guitarist, but was replaced by Kirk Hammett after being fired from the band in 1983. He then went on to form Megadeth, which went on to join Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax as the “Big 4” of thrash metal.

The Big 4 did do a run of shows together in 2010 and 2011, and Slayer has since broken up. In an interview with Songfacts last year, Mustaine advocated for another Big 4 show, saying that Metallica should “step up” and make it happen.

Snoop Dogg brings Death Row catalog to TikTok

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

TikTok is the official home of Death Row Records’ catalog. The music is now exclusively available via SoundOn, the streaming service’s all-in-one distribution platform for music creators.

Snoop Dogg acquired Death Row’s brand and label last year and later removed it from digital streaming providers. In a statement, he explained the discography’s return to streaming services.

“Since I took death row off streaming almost a year ago, not a day goes by without people asking me to put it back up,” Death Row’s CEO said in a statement. “As the Super Bowl rolled around, I knew fans would be looking for the music from our iconic performance in 2022, so I wanted to reintroduce the most historic catalog to the people. I reached out to the folks at TikTok to make more history…enjoy ya’ll.”

Death Row’s expansive catalog includes RIAA multi-Platinum-selling albums like Snoop’s Doggystyle and The Doggfather, the Above The Rim soundtrack and tracks from the likes of 2Pac, Nate Dogg and more.

Some of the songs are featured on a newly curated DeathRow’s Greatest Hits playlist released in celebration of the catalog’s new home. Fans will be also able to access a “What Dogg Are You?” TikTok filter soundtracked to Snoop’s “Who Am I? (What’s My Name).” Per a press release, the filter will “transform users into the breed that best represents them.”

Haley kicks off White House campaign: ‘We’re ready’

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) — Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley officially launched her presidential bid Wednesday, jumping into a potentially bruising GOP primary challenge against former President Donald Trump.

Haley, who rolled out a video announcing her campaign Tuesday, spoke in Charleston Wednesday, casting herself as a new chapter in American politics in an apparent dig both at President Joe Biden and Trump.

“We’re ready, ready to move past the stale ideas and faded names of the past, and we are more than ready for a new generation to lead us into the future,” she said. “I come here today with a vision of that future.”

Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under Trump, cast the stakes of the 2024 presidential race in near apocalyptic terms, warning that supposed weakness at home and abroad put the country at peril.

“The stakes are nothing less than our survival. And you and I and every American is being summoned to bold action. And so, I have an announcement to make,” she said.

“I stand before you as the daughter of immigrants, as the proud wife of a combat veteran and as the mom of two amazing children. I’ve served as governor of the great state of South Carolina and as America’s ambassador to the United Nations. And above all else, I’m a grateful American citizen who knows our best days are yet to come if we unite and fight to save our country. I have devoted my life to this fight, and I’m just getting started. For a strong America, for a proud America, I am running for president of the United States of America.”

She said it’s time to send a “tough-as-nails woman to the White House.”

“May the best woman win,” she said, to a cheering crowd.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Shawn Mendes announced as the new brand ambassador for David Yurman

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images

Shawn Mendes has an exciting new partnership with jewelry company David Yurman. He’s just been announced as its new brand ambassador.

Taking to Instagram, Shawn shared a promotional video he shot for the brand’s upcoming spring campaign, which is said to be dubbed “Nature’s Artistry.” Shawn says the upcoming promotion celebrates “nature and the creative inspiration it provides.”

As for the video itself, fans are likening it to a thirst trap because it features a shirtless Shawn showing off his chiseled torso by the water. Other scenes see Shawn dressed in white and strumming a guitar as well as him staring pensively into the camera as the sun sets behind him.

Since this is a promotional video, Shawn’s decorated with different David Yurman pieces, including rings, bracelets and chain necklaces.

The company also saluted Shawn on Instagram, writing, “We are honored to have singer and songwriter @shawnmendes as the global male brand ambassador of our 2023 campaign.”

Actress Scarlett Johansson has been announced as the jeweler’s female brand ambassador. Their campaigns are now live on the luxury brand’s website.

Bruce Springsteen performs “If I Was the Priest” live for the first time in over 50 years

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band brought their tour to Houston, Texas Tuesday and treated the crowd to a very rare performance. Rolling Stone reports the set included “If I Was the Priest,” reportedly a fan request, marking the first time The Boss performed the song live since 1972.

“I wrote this song. I was 22. Fifty years ago,” Springsteen told the crowd. “I still don’t have a clue what the f*** it’s about.”

The last known performance of “If I Was the Priest” reportedly took place in May, 1972 at Gaslight Au Go Go in New York. The song was one Springsteen performed to audition for managers Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos back in February, 1972, as well as during his audition for CBS Records in May of that year. While “If I Was the Priest” has appeared on bootlegs, its first official inclusion on an album came 2020 when Bruce and the E Street Band re-recorded it for Letters to You.

The Houston concert also saw the return of Steven Van Zandt and Soozie Tyrell, who missed shows due to COVID. Unfortunately, guitarist Nils Lofgren was still out due to COVID, the first time since 1981 Lofgren missed a full Springsteen and the E Street Band concert.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s tour hits Austin, Texas on Thursday.

Report shows streaming may overtake traditional TV for the first time ever this year

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

If you’ve found yourself watching streaming content rather than flipping channels on the TV, you’re not alone. According to the market research company Insider Intelligence, streaming material — whether it’s a drama on Netflix, sports on ESPN+ or cat videos on TikTok — will overtake traditional TV’s viewership for the first time ever in 2023.

Scheduled content on broadcast and cable television — or, as it’s known in industry circles, ‘linear TV’ — has been losing audience to on-demand digital content for years, but Insider Intelligence predicts this is the year linear TV loses its decades-long dominance.

American adults’ daily TV time is predicted to drop to two hours and 55 minutes, versus three hours and 11 minutes watching streaming entertainment, the analysts report. According to the company’s analysis, 2022 saw streaming neck-and-neck with TV time: Adults in this country spent an average of three hours and two minutes a day watching digital video content, versus three hours and seven minutes watching TV.

The company’s report further shows YouTube and Netflix are “neck and neck,” each grabbing an average of about 33 viewing minutes per day among U.S. adults. Hulu ranked second with 24 minutes, followed by Amazon Prime Video with 11 and Disney+, with eight. Streaming sports was a big driver in digital viewership, the report says.

Insider Intelligence’s principal analyst Paul Verna explains that as recently as four years ago, digital video’s audience was half of TV’s audience. Also, because the new analysis centers solely on adults and younger audiences spend even more time consuming digital content, the gap between linear and streaming will likely widen further.

Aside from an uptick in 2020 — likely from watching TV news during the pandemic — TV time has dropped every year since 2013.

Taking a one-time pill may help curb binge drinking, study finds

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A medication that is already on the market may help people who binge drink, new research shows.

The medication, naltrexone, is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat alcohol use disorder as well as opioid use disorder, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA.

When taken for alcohol use disorder, naltrexone is taken daily in pill form.

A new study published in December in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that taking naltrexone prior to an expected episode of binge drinking, as opposed to taking it daily, can help curb the amount of alcohol consumed.

Binge drinking is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a “pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 grams percent or above.”

That typically means consuming five or more drinks in a two-hour period for men and four or more drinks in a two-hour period for women, according to the CDC.

The new research, first reported by The New York Times, looked at young men who took the pill one hour before they expected to drink.

In addition to the medication, the participants also received education on reducing alcohol use.

After 12 weeks, participants who took naltrexone prior to drinking reported consuming less alcohol than the participants who received a placebo.

The participants who took naltrexone also reported its effect lasting up to six months, according to the study.

The medication works by binding endorphin receptors in the body, which helps block the “effects and feelings of alcohol,” according to SAMHSA.

“Naltrexone reduces alcohol cravings and the amount of alcohol consumed,” the agency states on its website, adding that with alcohol use disorder, the treatment typically lasts for three to four months. “Once a patient stops drinking, taking naltrexone helps patients maintain their sobriety.”

Binge drinking on the rise

The new research on naltrexone for helping to curb excessive alcohol use comes amid an increase in binge drinking in the United States.

The annual number of binge drinks among adults who reported binge drinking jumped on average from 472 in 2011 to 529 in 2017, a 12% increase, according to a CDC study published in 2020.

Increases in binge drinking were most prominent in people 35 or older and those with lower educational levels and household incomes, according to the CDC data.

One in 6 adults in the U.S. binge drinks about four times a month, consuming about seven drinks per binge, and binge drinking is twice as common among men than among women, according to the CDC.

Drinking a steady amount of alcohol in a short amount of time has a different impact on your body than drinking, for example, one glass of wine each night over the course of one week, according to Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News chief medical correspondent and a board-certified OBGYN.

For women, a moderate alcohol intake per week is defined as seven servings of alcohol or less. For men, it is 14 servings of alcohol or less per week, according to the CDC.

One serving of alcohol is defined as 5 ounces for wine and just 1 1/2 ounces for hard alcohol, far less than what is typically served in bars, restaurants and people’s homes.

Dr. Darien Sutton, a board-certified emergency medicine physician and ABC News medical contributor, said people who are concerned about their alcohol use should speak with their medical provider.

“The first step, I always want to advise patients, is acknowledging to yourself that you might have a problem,” he said. “Talk to your physician about your symptoms so that you can get a good gauge on what the issue is and the other possible treatments.”

SAMHSA also has a 24/7 free and confidential helpline available at 1-800-662-HELP (4357), and online at samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline.

“We’ve seen this reassessment of the ’80s:” Cyndi Lauper, George Michael pull ahead in Rock Hall fan vote

February 15, 2023 by WDNY Radio

Since the nominees were announced two weeks ago, fans have been voting online for their favorite Rock & Roll Hall of Fame contenders — and two artists in particular are blowing away the competition: Cyndi Lauper and George Michael.

In the fan vote, Cyndi has more than any of the other 13 nominees — more than 187,000 — while George is close behind with more than 185,000 votes. Of course, neither Cyndi nor George ever lacked fans. What they and other ’80s pop acts haven’t had is Rock Hall recognition — until recently, with the inductions of Pat Benatar, Lionel Richie, Eurythmics, Duran Duran and The Go-Gos.

“I think, particularly, we have seen … this reassessment of the ’80s,” says Jason Hanley, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s VP of education and visitor engagement. “And it’s not just a nostalgia for it. It’s really looking back and sort of doing a little bit of a creative overhaul of how we assess that music and say, ‘There was some great art made in that time period.'”

Hanley tells ABC Audio that even if you don’t like how slick the music of the ’80s was, Cyndi and George are two great examples of artists whose “lasting legacy is their songwriting.” He adds that songs like “True Colors” “have just stuck with people. [They] really reached out and said a lot of important things.”

He suggests a lot of the issues Cyndi and George referenced in their music, like LGBTQ rights and, in George’s case, coming out, “are things that are still relevant and important in our society now, and speak to large audiences around the world.”

Fan voting is open through April 28 at rockhall.com, with the top five vote-getters comprising a “fans’ ballot,” which will help determine this year’s inductees.

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