Michigan State University gunman had felony weapon charge dropped in 2019

Michigan State University gunman Anthony McRae, who shot and killed three people on campus Monday evening, was charged with a felony for carrying a concealed weapon without a license in 2019, but that count was later dropped after he pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge for possession of a firearm in a vehicle, according to Ingham County court records. 

McRae opened fire inside an academic hall on the northern boundary of campus shortly after 8:00 p.m. on Monday. He then walked a short distance to the student union and opened fire again, according to police. 

Three students were killed and five others were critically wounded. McRae was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound off-campus after an hours-long manhunt. 

In the previous incident, McRae was arrested in the summer of 2019 and charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a license, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. 

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In October 2019, the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office dropped that felony charge after McRae pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle, which is punishable by up to two years in prison. 

McRae was sentenced to probation under the deal, which ended in May 2021 after 18 months. 

Under Michigan law, a felon is not allowed to possess a firearm until three years after all fines are paid, prison time is served, and conditions of probation are completed. 

Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane said Tuesday that the original felony charge likely would not have resulted in prison time for McRae. 

“Even if he were convicted by a jury of the original charge, Anthony McRae would not have been recommended for a jail or prison sentence,” Dewane said in a statement. “The sentencing guideline score would have been the same if he had been convicted of either the original charge (Carrying a Concealed Weapon) or the offense for which he was convicted (carrying a firearm in a vehicle).”

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Dewane became prosecutor at the end of last year after Carol Siemon stepped down from the role. She had faced criticism from local police chiefs and sheriffs in August 2021 after implementing a new policy that dialed back most felony firearm charges. 

“The new policy concerning Felony Firearm charging is related to dramatic racial inequity in how this and certain other laws have been charged and is not in any way linked to the goal that we share of keeping the public safe,” Siemon said in a statement at the time. “The purported link between this policy and any future rise in gun violence is disingenuous and erroneous.” 

Investigators are still trying to figure out McRae’s motive for the shooting. He had no affiliation with the university. 

His brother, Michael McRae, said that Anthony started changing after their mother died in 2020 and stopped taking care of himself. 

“He lived a sheltered world,” Michael told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “He started changing. He was getting more and more bitter and angry. I’m asking him, ‘What’s on your mind?’ But he wouldn’t talk to me.”

The three deceased victims were identified on Tuesday as Arielle Anderson, a junior from the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe; Brian Fraser, a sophomore also from Grosse Point; and Alexandria Verner, a junior from Clawson. 

Five victims were also critically wounded in the shooting and are being treated at Sparrow Hospital. 

Fox News’ Chris Eberhart contributed to this report.