The older brother of the suspected gunman in the Michigan State shootings said he doesn’t “have a clue” what prompted Anthony McRae’s shooting spree on campus Monday night.
“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.”
Police are left without answers as well, saying they don’t know why Anthony McRae, 43, allegedly walked into two campus buildings and opened fire. He had no known current or past ties to the university, authorities said. After police made contact with him, he died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
His brother “stayed to himself” and they had grown apart over the years, the older brother said.
Michael McRae lives in the state of Delaware. The brothers grew up in New Jersey. But Anthony McRae and parents moved to Lansing about 20 years ago after his father transferred from General Motors in New Jersey.
More:Police: Suspect in Michigan State shooting had no clear ties to university
More:Suspect identified in Michigan State University shooting: 3 dead, 5 in critical condition
Anthony McRae pleaded guilty in 2019 to a misdemeanor weapons charge in Lansing, according to court and Michigan Department of Corrections records. Chris Gautz, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections, said he successfully completed about 19 months of probation; MDOC successfully discharged him In May 2021.
Last time the brothers spoke was their mom’s funeral two years ago in Lansing and 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.”
Michael McRae learned what happened from their father earlier on Tuesday.
While the brothers’ relationship was rocky, he would “never in a million years” have imagined something like what happened Monday night.
More:MSU shooting suspect Anthony McRae previously pleaded guilty to gun-related charge
“I am deeply sorry for this whole thing,” said Michael McRae, who plans to travel to Lansing to be with his father.
Contact Christine MacDonald: cmacdonald@freepress.com or 313-418-2149. Follow her on Twitter: @cmacfreep.
