‘People hate me,’ MSU shooter wrote in letter released by police

MSU gunman Anthony McRae killed three students and critically injured five others. Credit: Michigan Department of Corrections

Before he went on a shooting rampage at Michigan State University, Anthony McRae wrote a letter in which he described himself as a sexually frustrated “outcast” whom people hated.

The two-page letter was found in his pocket after he turned a handgun on himself while police tried to arrest him a few miles from campus.

Police on Friday released the partially redacted letter, which was dated Feb. 12, a day before the shooting.

“Why do people hate me?” the 43-year-old wrote. “They never accepted me.”

McRae complained that “people treat me different” and said he hadn’t had sex for 10 years.

He said people “made me … a killer.”

McRae, who was Black, also said mentioned race and said, “fuck all you racist motherfuckers.”

“I don’t want to be an African American,” he wrote.

Although he described himself as a loner, McRae claimed he was the leader of a group of 20 that planned to carry out shootings in Lansing, East Lansing, DeWitt, Colorado Springs, and New Jersey. The “list of our targets” was redacted.

Police have repeatedly said McRae, who has a history of mental health issues, acted alone and that there’s no evidence that he belonged to a larger group of potential killers.

The letter also included drawings of a face with tears.

Killed in the shooting were MSU students Arielle Anderson, 19, of Harper Woods; Brian Fraser, 20, of Grosse Pointe; and Alexandria Verner, 20, of Clawson.

McRae also critically wounded five other students. Three of them have since been released.

When police found him walking toward his home after the shooting, he was carrying two unregistered handguns, nine magazines filled with ammunition, two bus tickets, and the letter.