Anthony McRae MSU gunman was found with two legal handguns & 9 loaded magazines on his person despite a 2019 arrest for concealed weapons charge which was reduced to a misdemeanor.
Anthony McRae, the MSU shooting suspect who stormed onto Michigan State University campus and killed three students and injured five others had two legally purchased 9mm handguns and nine magazines filled with ammunition.
In further updates, police said McRae, 43, did not speak to officers after being told to put his hands above his head after cops catching up to the man following a four cat and mouse game – and shooting himself 3.8miles away from the campus.
McRae started his rampage after opened gunfire at Berkeley Hall just on 8pm, Monday evening before shooting at MSU Union, leaving four students in critical condition and one in a stable condition.
McRae legally purchased the guns, though it is unclear when he bought them and had an additional 50 rounds of ammo on his person following the incident.
Deputy Chief Chris Rozman of MSU police confirmed at a press conference on Thursday that officers were ‘confident’ that there were no additional shooters despite a note left by McRae claiming he has ’20 others’ to help him.
No known motive or link to university
Officials also confirmed that while the shooter left a note, they were still working to confirm the exact motive of the shooting.
Working on a tip, officers headed to nearby Lansing, where police spotted McRae walking close to his home when officers approached him.
Deputy Chief Rozman said police were currently unaware of any link between the shooter and the university.
He added: ‘He didn’t verbalize anything to the officers prior to shooting himself.
‘Our detectives responded to a subject matching the MSU shooting suspect McRae who was observed walking.
‘They exited the vehicle and ordered him to show his hands. He produced a weapon and then killed himself.’
Officers confirmed that a note was found in McRae’s pocket when he was searched after his death.
CCTV footage shows the #MSU shooter, Anthony Mcrae, on foot with the SWAT passing him by in the background. He was somehow able to stay a step ahead of the heavy police presence. #MichiganStateUniversity pic.twitter.com/Pbx0VpLuPA
— Vic Blanco Prods is Back (@VicBlancoProds) February 14, 2023
In possession of two legal handguns despite 2019 concealed weapons arrest
They also discovered two legal 9mm handguns, one in his hand and another in the backpack he was carrying. The possession of extra magazines indicated a degree of planning in the attack and a willingness to take out a cache of victims.
He had two additional bus tickets on his person, a loaded magazine at full capacity in his left breast pocket and eight more loaded with 9mm ammunition in his backpack.
McRae also had 50 rounds of loose 9mm rounds in a pouch, as well as two empty magazines.
McRae was in legal possession of the handguns despite in 2019 being arrested for carrying a concealed weapon (see below video), a felony charge which should have banned him from purchasing any weapons.
His two guns were legally purchased but not registered, with police confirming that a former prosecutor had chosen to ‘negotiate it down to a lesser crime’.
McRae was given no jail time and a year of probation – with the prosecutor no longer working for the county.
Purchased gun after end of probation and practiced shooting in the backyard
Former Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon lowered the charges to possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle – a misdemeanour.
The gun involved in the 2019 incident remains in Lansing Police Department custody, officers confirmed.
According to an interview his father did with the Washington Post in the wake of Monday night’s rampage, McRae bought another gun shortly after he completed his probation in 2021.
Years after the arrest, McRae according to the father ‘kept lying’ about owning a different gun in the family home they shared and shooting the firearm in his backyard, his father told The Post.
Michael McRae said his son bought a gun sometime after he was arrested in 2019 but never admitted that he had it in the house and refused to show it to his father. When the father confronted the son about gunshots he heard in his Lansing backyard, he said, Anthony McRae told him it was fireworks, even after Michael McRae saw bullet casings on the grass.
Authorities also confirmed that McRae made threats against a church, businesses and a school district in New Jersey in other notes discovered.
Deputy Chief Rozman added: ‘We know that he had some connection with New Jersey years ago but we do not know why he was bringing that up.
‘We have no information on the church. We understand that regarding the businesses, he had grievances with some of the employees there. He felt slighted by them and he had worked previously at the warehouse.’
