MSU shooting surveillance video shows gunman calmly walking in union, police searching

Surveillance video from Michigan State University shows the man accused of murdering three students calmly checking to ensure there are bullets in his handgun as he enters the school's Student Union.

Two surveillance clips, provided Friday to the Detroit Free Press by MSU in response to a state Freedom of Information Act request, show Anthony McRae quickly enter the facility, duck into a room or hallway and then leave out the same door. His exit came about a minute before law enforcement officers arrive at the building.

Neither of the clips includes audio, and police in some portions blurred images of students or others in the building at the time of the shooting. Police adding blurring to obscure people's likenesses and protect their privacy.

There are also short time gaps in the videos.

"The cameras are motion activated. Moreover, they begin recording when they detect motion, which would account for the gaps," said MSU police spokesperson Dana Whyte.

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The first clip shows McRae enter what looks like a side door of the union building at 8:24 p.m. As he walks up a short flight of stairs and down a hallway, he pulls what appears to be a handgun out of the right pocket of his jacket. He removes the clip, checking that it still contains ammunition, then deftly restores the magazine in the handgun before turning the corner and leaving the line of sight of the first camera.

The second camera shows McRae enter a hallway just after 8:25 p.m. Holding a gun in his left hand, he appears to look into a door on his left before moving on and entering a door or hallway on his right.

The video briefly skips ahead, but appears to show a student or other person who is blurred leaving the area about 25 seconds after McRae entered. McRae is out of camera view for less than a minute before returning the way he came. He starts to jog before walking, nearly bumps into a wall, then retraces his steps toward the door he entered.

The first camera captures him leaving the building at 8:26 p.m. He appears to be walking.

A little over a minute later, a law enforcement officer jogs up to the door and pulls it open. The officer peers inside, carrying a rifle. The officer appears to shout at a person who approaches down the hallway about 30 seconds later; that person is blurred in the video provided by police. The officer runs off about one minute after arriving at the door.

The second camera shows multiple officers inside the union building arrive around 8:29 p.m. in the hallway McRae exited, about three minutes after he left the building.

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The footage release comes one month after police say McRae terrorized the East Lansing campus, leaving three dead, five injured, thousands traumatized and many more searching for answers.

The university declined to immediately release additional footage, suggesting it would require "significant labor" to review and potential redact portions of the video.

Also Friday, law enforcement officials released a two-page note they say they found on McRae's body and a timeline of his suspected movements on campus the evening of Feb. 13.

MSU police and other law enforcement officers struggled to initially find McRae, saying the onslaught of conflicting emergency calls contributed to the confusion. But the university also acknowledged an inability to monitor surveillance cameras live, hampering their ability to quick pinpoint a suspect.

During a news conference the night of the shooting, law enforcement officials released an image taken from video footage captured in the Union. Within minutes, a tipster successfully directed police to McRae's location.

McRae fatally shot himself when approached by officers, officials say.

MSU officials say they are dedicated to improving security on campus, pushing to expedite funding for a $30 million upgrade. The university vowed to install easy-to-use locks on class doors and is reviewing ways to upgrade its surveillance and other security systems. These and other precautions are already in place in many universities in Michigan and across the country, as found in a Free Press investigation.

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The investigation into the shooting remains open. At the same time, Michigan lawmakers are pursuing law changes to increase gun background checks, mandate safe firearm storage and implement a so-called red flag system that would allow a judge to issue temporary orders to remove firearms from someone deemed a danger by loved ones.

Contact Dave Boucher: dboucher@freepress.com and on Twitter, @Dave_Boucher1.