A man suspected of killing three people and wounding five more at Michigan State University before reportedly killing himself has been identified as 43-year-old Anthony McRae.

It’s still unclear why McRae targeted the East Lansing campus, located some 90 miles northwest of Detroit. He was not a student or employee and had no affiliation with the university, leaving authorities baffled as to why he carried out Monday night’s mass shooting at the school.

“We have no idea why he came to campus,” said Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the campus police department.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what that motive would be,” he continued. “That will obviously be part of our investigation. I know that that is going to be a question that lingers on everybody’s mind. We will do our best to determine that but at this time, we have no idea.”

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The gunfire began Monday night before 8:20 p.m. at Berkey Hall, an academic building, and then moved to the nearby student union, a popular gathering spot for students to eat or study.

“Police and emergency responders acted quickly,” Rozman said. “We tended to the victims at both of those scenes.”

Two of those who died were found at Berkey Hall while the third was at the MSU Union. Another five people were taken to a nearby hospital, all of them in critical condition, according to Rozman. They were all students.

The violence sparked a desperate manhunt late Monday night, with scores of law enforcement officers spanning multiple agencies descending on campus. Amid their search, authorities released an image of the suspect, resulting in a tip that allowed them to locate him in Lansing.

The suspect “was contacted by law enforcement off campus,” Rozman explained, and “it does appear that that suspect has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” A weapon was also recovered, but he did not provide additional details.

“This truly has been a nightmare that we are living tonight,” Rozman said. “We are relieved to no longer have an active threat on campus, while we realize that there is so much healing that will need to take place after this,”

With News Wire Services

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