The man accused of murdering three Michigan State University students and shooting five others has a troubling history with guns that led to at least one arrest and prompted concern from those closest to him that dates back much further than Monday's mass shooting.
Court records, official statements and interviews with people tied to Anthony Dwayne McRae paint a picture of the 43-year-old, who shot himself as police closed in on a Lansing street hours after the initial violence. A Free Press review of this information shows warning signs about McRae’s capacity to safely own and use a firearm, and potential red flags leading up to the massacre at MSU.
McRae was arrested in 2019 in Lansing and charged with illegally carrying a concealed weapon, a felony that could have prevented him from legally owning a weapon if convicted. His defense attorney raised questions about the constitutionality of the arrest, and ultimately prosecutors agreed to a deal that allowed McRae to plead to a misdemeanor.
That charge did not prevent him from buying a gun in the future, something McRae did, according to an interview his father gave to the Washington Post.
After McRae was successfully discharged from serving probation in May 2021, family and neighbors of the Lansing resident say he dangerously fired a gun in his backyard. And law enforcement officials in New Jersey, where McRae previously lived, indicated he had a “history of mental health issues,” although they did not release any details about these alleged challenges.
The Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety continued to search for a motive in the mass shooting. But warning signs about McRae were there before the attack.
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Previous arrest was gun-related
In June 2019, a Lansing Police Department officer approached McRae as he sat outside a building, court records show. It was about 2 a.m., and the officer would later say burglaries prompted a request for patrols in the area early that morning.
The officer asked McRae whether he worked at a nearby building.
Smoking a cigarette, McRae said he did not. Then the officer asked whether he was carrying a weapon. McRae acknowledged he had a gun, prompting the officer to detain him.
McRae had a Ruger LCP .380 semiautomatic handgun in his pants pocket, and a magazine in the breast pocket of his shirt, according to court records. He also admitted that he didn’t have a concealed carry permit, as required under Michigan law.
Court records show this interaction led police to charging McRae with illegally carrying a concealed weapon. That’s a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, current Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane told the Free Press in a statement.
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However, McRae’s lawyer would later argue the arrest violated his client’s constitutional rights. He called the incident what legal experts frequently deem a Terry stop, after a prominent court case that regulates when an officer can legally detain and search someone.
Police had no reason to search McRae, rendering that search unconstitutional, the lawyer argued. If the search was illegal, the police could not use any evidence found during that search — namely, the gun and magazine — in any prosecution, the lawyer suggested in a motion to suppress any evidence related to McRae having the gun.
Prosecutors disagreed, arguing the officer followed proper procedure. But before a judge could rule whether the evidence was inappropriately obtained, both sides agreed to a deal.
Dewane was appointed prosecutor in late 2022, and was not in charge of the Ingham County office at the time McRae was charged.
McRae pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally possessing a loaded firearm “in or upon a vehicle,” Dewane said. It’s unclear what vehicle police may have referenced; family and neighbors told the Free Press that McRae typically either rode a bicycle or used public transportation.
The plea required McRae remain on probation for at least a year, but allowed him to avoid any prison time.
“Any offender who is convicted and facing sentencing in Michigan is provided a Sentence Guideline (SGL) score during their pre-sentence investigation. The SGL score provides the court with guidance for a sentence recommendation. It is a routine matter in nearly all criminal cases that the recommended sentence is not the same as the legal maximum,” Dewane said in a statement, noting he is also the parent of an MSU student.
“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. 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).”
Dewane later acknowledged the felony conviction would have barred McRae from legally owning a gun, while the misdemeanor did not.
McRae successfully completed his probation in May 2021, said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Gautz.
Brother says he was isolated
McRae’s older brother, Michael McRae, told the Free Press he doesn’t “have a clue” what prompted his brother's shooting spree.
“This just don’t seem real, that he would be able to do anything like this,” Michael McRae, 45, told the Detroit Free Press the morning after the violence. “I am still trying to process this whole thing.”
Michael McRae, who lives in Delaware and shares the same first name as his father, said his brother “stayed to himself” and they had grown apart over the years.
The brothers grew up in New Jersey. But Anthony McRae and his parents moved to Lansing about 20 years ago after his father transferred from a General Motors plant in New Jersey.
MSU police confirmed they found a note when they searched McRae's body.
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At least a portion of it included threats against a school in Ewing, New Jersey, according to local police there. Ewing officials eventually determined there was no active threat while also reporting that Anthony McRae had “a history of mental health issues.”
The last time the brothers spoke was their mom’s funeral two years ago in Lansing; Michael McRae said the conversation “wasn’t good.”
Anthony McRae had no children, no spouse and no friends his brother knew of. He worked at warehouse jobs in Lansing.
“He stayed to himself,” Michael McRae said. “He kind of secluded himself.
“Definitely a loner.”
While the brothers' relationship was rocky, he would "never in a million years" have imagined something like what happened Monday night.
“I am deeply sorry for this whole thing,” said Michael McRae, who plans to travel to Lansing to be with his father.
Michael McRae learned what happened from their father earlier on Tuesday.
Father told son to get rid of gun
Anthony McRae lived with his father, Mike McRae, at the end of a quiet street of older homes in Lansing’s north end, neighbors said.
They reported little contact with Anthony McRae, saying they would see him riding his bike and he kept to himself, while his father was well-known, gregarious and well-liked in the neighborhood.
However, neighbors were aware of an incident a couple of years ago in which police were called after Anthony McRae fired a gun outside the family home, said neighbor Megan Bender, a hospital worker.
Anthony McRae moved into the home about two years ago, after his mother, Linda McRae, died, Bender said.
“The son, we really didn’t know too much about him,” she said of Anthony McRae. “He didn’t drive. He had a bicycle.”
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Mike McRae, the father, did not respond to requests for comment from the Free Press. But he told the Washington Post that he repeatedly implored his son Anthony to throw away his gun.
Anthony bought the gun sometime after his 2019 arrest but never admitted to having it in the house, the older McRae told the Post.
“I told him to get rid of the gun,” the 66-year-old said, according to the Post. “He kept lying to me about it and told me he got rid of it.”
Mike McRae confronted his son once after he heard gunshots in the backyard, he told the Post; it’s unclear when this happened. At the time, Anthony McRae reportedly said his father had heard fireworks, despite Mike McRae saying he saw bullet casings in the grass.
A Lansing Police Department spokesperson declined to provide any comment about the 2019 arrest or any more recent calls about Anthony McRae.
Free Press staff writers Gina Kaufman and David Jesse contributed to this report.
Contact Dave Boucher: dboucher@freepress.com. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.
