Photo provide by TIME. Photo taken by Carlos Osorio–AP.
Monday night, a 43 year old man went on a shooting spree throughout the Michigan State University campus. In the hours that students spent hiding, running, and protecting themselves, 3 people were shot and killed, 5 others remain in critical condition. Both students shot and killed were 20 years old; the other man killed was a campus security guard. The shooter’s motives still remained unclear, but a note in his pocket speculates that he was planning to target 2 other schools in the area.
Students spoke to the media about hearing the gunshots right next to them, leaving them running through campus, jumping through windows, and in lockdown in dorms, classrooms, and other buildings along campus for hours. One student said to CNN, “My feet hit the ground running. I forgot everything I owned because that didn’t matter. I was focused on making it out alive. I jumped out the window and I ran as fast as I could.” Others were at the bottom of the window, catching people to help them escape. Later that night, the 43 year old gunman was found dead by suicide.
The amount of mass shootings occurring in the US daily is something that needs to be addressed. This shooting marked the 67th mass shooting in 2023. This was the first college mass shooting this year, and the 12th overall school shooting in the past two and a half months. Students should not have to live in fear that one day a gunman is going to shoot students on your campus. The increase of mass shootings in the US is one of the highest amounts we have had this short into the year so far.
The government and local authorities need to do something to change the large amount of gun activity in this country. In the state of Michigan, Democratic lawmakers are introducing gun control measures. Other states need to take action as well to create laws with stronger regulations on guns than there is currently. This being the second mass shooting in Michigan State University in the past 14 months, lawmakers here knew action needed to be taken.
Meanwhile, many schools are taking extra precautions on their campuses to avoid situations like this. In Bloomsburg, one action is the “run, hide, fight.” If a shooter is alerted to be on campus, students are told to alert the BUPD and take shelter. Alongside this, many schools including our own are increasing on and off campus security, placing more cameras, and encouraging students to alert campus police if they see anything suspicious. Support resources for students struggling with the recent shootings, you can contact the Crisis Text Line 741-741 – text “help”.
Student Impact
Many students have posted online on many different social media platforms such as Tik Tok, Instagram, and Snapchat, sharing their stories on what occurred at Michigan State University. They gave us their perspective and point of view of what happened in this incident. Many posted videos of students running through campus from the shooter, one showed students hiding in the dining hall from the “police.” There are many other videos that showed how impactful and awful this mass shooting was.
Below are some of the videos that have gone viral of students sharing their stories and footage from the film:
