MSU shooter motive hinted at in note: ‘They made me who I am today a killer’
- Michigan State Police released a two-page note from the suspected gunman of the campus shooting
- The gunman repeatedly said ‘they hurted me’
- He described himself as a ‘loner’ and ‘outcast’
Editor's note: This story contains graphic details and the contents of a note that readers may find disturbing.
The suspected gunman of the Michigan State University shooting wrote that he was hurt by racism, was “tired of being rejected” and that “they hate me” in a two-page note written the day before the shooting.
The note was in Anthony McRae’s pocket the night of the shooting. Police say the 43-year-old from Lansing shot and killed three students and seriously injured another five students on Feb. 13.
MSU Police released the contents of the note Friday morning, almost a month after the shooting. Police say McRae died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, hours after the attack, away from campus.
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Authorities have previously said McRae has no known connections to the university, aside from living less than 5 miles away.
Three times, the note read, "they hurted me,” underlining the phrase for emphasis.
“I’m tired of being rejected. Outcast. Loner. People hate me. They made me who I’m am today a killer,” the note read.
The gunman said he would be “shooting up MSU” and other groups would be going to Colorado Springs, Lansing and to some New Jersey schools.
“Another team of my group will finish off the city of Lansing.”
While McRae claimed in the note to have 19 co-conspirators, police said Friday they do not believe that to be the case.
Campus police, state police and the FBI “have determined through comprehensive reviews and detailed follow-up that McRae acted alone and was not working with other people,” MSU said. “This claim is unfounded.”
The note includes several redacted lines where it appears as though the gunman included more specific targets.
He mentioned a church, along with other locations in the Old Town neighborhood of Lansing, East Lansing, Holt, and DeWitt Township.
At the top of the note, he drew a sad face with tears and wrote “they hate me” three times.
"My father (h)as nothing do with this," added McRae, who lived with his dad.
He also said he didn’t “want to be a American african” and that “every where I go people treat me different.”
“They hate me Why? Why? Why? Why?”.
"Fuck all you rasist mother fuckers," he added.
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