Michigan State University mass shooter Anthony McRae lamented the loneliness he felt and his status as a person of color in a note found in his pocket shortly after dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The letter, released by authorities with various redactions on Friday, is dated February 12, 2023, the day before he shot and killed three MSU students and wounded five others. He began his two-page missive by apologizing for his handwriting, then quickly moved on to wondering why he was an “outsider” and a “loner.”
“Everywhere I go, people treat me differently,” he wrote. “I don’t want to be an African American (.) I am a person (.) Why do people hate me? They never accepted me.”
There are also several scribbles on the page, all of them sad faces with tears in their eyes.
“I’m tired of being shunned, outcast, lonely people who hate me,” he continued. “They made me what I am today, a murderer.”
He goes on to describe various other targets besides MSU, including East Lansing, Old Town Lansing, Holt, DeWitt, and New Jersey, where he and his family once lived.
“10 years since I had sex,” the note reads. “They hate me. Why? Why? Why? Why?”
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The gunman also stressed that the violence had nothing to do with his father, who previously told reporters that his son’s mental health had deteriorated after his mother’s death.
McRae’s note is the first hint of a motive in the Michigan State University shooting. He lived nearby in Lansing, but apparently had no connection to the school.
Police said they broke into a classroom at Berkey Hall on February 13. around 8 p.m. and opened fire on the students who were learning about Cuban literature. He then walked a short distance to the nearby student union and fired several more rounds before fleeing campus.
Arielle Anderson, 19; Brian Fraser, 20; and Alexandria Verner, 20, all from suburban Detroit, were killed in the attack.
Police said Friday that they are still investigating McRae’s route once he left campus. He was located in an industrial area about 4 miles from campus after an hour-long chase around 11:49 p.m. As officers closed in, McRae killed himself.
In addition to the note, he also had two pistols and several ammunition clips.
with cable news services
