Campus police at Michigan State University ordered students to shelter in place immediately after shots were fired on campus Monday evening.
“MSU Police report shots fired incident occurring on or near the East Lansing campus,” an email alert sent out by the school read. “Secure-in-Place immediately. Run, Hide, Fight.”
“Police are active on scene. More information to follow,” MSU police tweeted. Half an hour later, the police said that gunman was still at large and “on foot.”
An exact number of victims was not immediately apparent.
Wali Khan, an MSU sophomore, told The Daily Beast that he had taken shelter in a building on campus near the health center. He reported seeing neighbors covering their windows with blankets and sirens “buzzing like crazy” outside.
“I moved here a year and half ago and I’m just shocked this is happening but I’m not surprised,” said Khan, who is from Singapore. He said he was tuned in to a police scanner, listening as dispatchers rattled off the names of buildings on campus. “I hang out at these places and just imagining blood on those floors make me sick.”
The Michigan State Police confirmed to the Beast that they had sent “multiple resources to MSU for an active shooter response,” but a spokesperson did not share further details.
Roughly an hour after the first report, police said there had been “another reported shooting” at a campus fitness center, but retracted the statement minutes later. “It appears there is only one suspect at this time,” they tweeted. It was unclear what had caused the confusion.
Police urged the public not go near the scene as “it is far too dangerous as this armed suspect is moving in the area.”
Governor Gretchen Whitmer responded to the shooting in a tweet, saying in part, “Let’s wrap our arms around the Spartan community tonight. We will keep everyone updated as we learn more.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
