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The Michigan State University gunman was found by police with a chilling note in which he targeted local businesses, a church and the Ewing, NJ, school district, as well as the campus where he shot eight, killing three, on Monday.
Anthony McRae, 43, claimed he was “leader of a group of 20 killers” and listed the Meijer warehouse where he had recently worked among his targets because he felt “slighted,” according to police.
“It appears that he had some issues with the employees there and he was asked to leave. So it looks like possibly a motive for that was he just felt slighted, that’s kinda what the note indicated,” said Lt. Rene Gonzalez of the Michigan State Police.
McRae took his own life after opening fire in two MSU campus buildings. When The Post asked MSU Police Chief Chris Rozman about McRae’s motive, he described it as “a difficult question.”
“It appears based on the content of the note that he felt that he was slighted in some way by people or businesses. Did a mental health issue amplify that or was it a component of that? We are not sure at this point … It’s a question on all our minds,” he said.
On Wednesday, McRae’s uncle described him as a “paranoid schizophrenic” — charges his father later denied, saying he had not been diagnosed with any mental health issues, although he admitted his son turned “evil” after losing his mother in 2020.
Police also confirmed that despite McRae’s note claiming he led a “group of 20 killers,” investigators are confident he acted alone.
“[McRae’s] father said he had no friends,” Gonzalez explained.
“He pretty much sat in his room — he ate and went to the bathroom in there. He had no friends, let alone 20 of them.”
McRae had two 9mm handguns on his person at the time of his death, alongside eight loaded magazines of ammunition in his backpack and a ninth loaded magazine in his breast pocket. He was also carrying two empty magazines, police confirmed.
Rozman said McRae purchased the guns legally, but neither weapon was registered at the time of the shooting, which claimed the lives of Brian Fraser, Arielle Anderson and Alex Verner.
The five others injured in the attack all remain in the hospital as of Thursday morning, although police confirmed one patient had improved from critical to stable condition.
McRae was able to purchase the firearms after completing parole for a misdemeanor weapons possession charge in 2021.
Previous reports detailed how McRae had made the threat to the Ewing School District, prompting a shutdown across all schools on Tuesday.
Though Gonzalez declined to comment on the reasoning behind McRae’s threat, he acknowledged the shooter had distant family connections in New Jersey.
While the officials at the press conference Thursday acknowledged that the days since the shooting had been “unbelievably difficult” for the MSU community and surrounding area, they remained hopeful about its recovery.
Interim university president Teresa Woodruff said that Berkey Hall, where part of the rampage took place, would remain closed for the remainder of the semester. The other site, Union, is under evaluation.
“We will not allow a single individual to take our university from us,” Woodruff said near the end of the proceedings.
Woodruff’s comments echoed those of university trustee Dr. Rema Vassar, who became emotional when describing how her own daughter, an MSU student, sheltered in place on campus for three hours Monday night.
“We will not have our safety and security stolen by a man with a gun, and a senseless act of violence,” she vowed.
“It will not happen.”
Vassar also encouraged the public to keep the families of the three murdered students in their thoughts as they prepared to bury their children in the coming days.
“They sent their children to [MSU] for a quality, world-class education, and now, they are holding services for them,” she said, her voice breaking.
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