A gunman killed three students and wounded five others in a shooting on the campus of Michigan State University on Monday, February 13th, 2023. Setting off an hours-long manhunt that ended with him dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Juniors Arielle Anderson and Alexandria Verner and sophomore Brian Fraser were killed in the attack, university police said.

Authorities identified the suspected gunman as 43-year-old Anthony McRae, who was not a student or employee and had no affiliation with the university.

The shooting began shortly after 8 p.m. ET on Monday at Berkey Hall, an academic building, and later moved to the nearby student union, a popular gathering spot for Michigan State’s 50,000 students to eat or study.

Frantic students poured out of the buildings and were soon ordered to shelter in place as hundreds of police officers scoured the school’s sprawling campus in East Lansing, Mich., for the suspect, who was seen in surveillance footage wearing a baseball cap and carrying what appeared to be a handgun. Authorities said he fled the scene on foot.

As parents frantically tried to contact their children after the mass shooting, three families received the worst news imaginable.

The injured were taken to E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, where they were listed in critical condition.

“This truly has been a nightmare we’re living tonight,” Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the campus police department, said at a news conference early Tuesday.

All classes, sports and other activities were canceled for 48 hours to allow students to “think and grieve and come together,” MSU interim president Teresa Woodruff said.

Authorities identified the suspected gunman as McRae, who died in Lansing while being confronted by police.

Michael McRae, Anthony’s father, said that his son had a difficult time handling the loss of his mother, Linda, who died of a stroke in 2020.

After her death, the younger McRae quit his job at a warehouse and stayed in his room all day, his father said.

But authorities said the shooter’s motive is unknown. “We have no idea why he came to campus to do this tonight,” Rozman said.

The deceased gunman was found with a note in his pocket indicating another threat to two schools in Ewing Township, N.J., where he had ties. Ewing Public Schools were closed for the day, but it was later determined there was no threat to the district.

The massacre at Michigan State was the latest in what has already been another deadly new year of gun violence in the United States.