Steph Deschamps / February 14, 2023
The gunman who killed three people and wounded at least five on Monday on a campus in Lansing, west of Detroit in the United States, took his own life after a massive manhunt, police said. "We have three confirmed deaths. This is in addition to the five victims who were transported to the hospital," Michigan State University (MSU) police tweeted. Several injured were in serious condition, they said. The suspect opened fire shortly after 8 p.m. in a university building before heading to another building where gunfire was also heard, said Chris Rozman, acting chief of campus police.
Hundreds of law enforcement personnel began searching for the suspect, whose photos police had released: a short black man wearing a denim jacket, red shoes and a baseball cap. Shortly after midnight, police announced that he had committed suicide not far from the scene of the shooting. "The suspect in this incident was located off MSU's campus," Rozman said at the time. He "passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We really had a nightmare tonight. We are relieved that we no longer have a threat going on on campus," he said.
Police quickly arrived on the scene after the shooting and ordered the nearly 50,000 students and staff on campus to stay indoors. The university suspended all activity for 48 hours. Police also declined to provide details about the victims, including whether they were students or university staff. And they were unable to say whether the shooter had any connection to the university, one of the best in the U.S., but stressed that they were not aware of any recent threats involving the institution. "Tonight, let's wrap our arms around the Spartan community," Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer had tweeted after the shooting, referring to the university's logo, a Greek warrior helmet.
The United States pays a very high price for the spread of guns in the country and the ease with which Americans have access to them. The country has more individual guns than people: one in three adults owns at least one gun, and nearly one in two adults lives in a home with a gun. The consequence of this proliferation is a very high rate of firearm deaths in the United States, unmatched by other developed countries.