At least one person has been killed and several injured after a shooting at Michigan State University, as police searched the main campus in East Lansing for a lone suspect, according to authorities and local news media.
University police tweeted on Monday that shots were fired in two locations – near an academic building called Berkey Hall and an athletic facility known as IM East.
The Detroit News reported one confirmed fatality on campus, inside Berkey Hall, citing Michigan State University (MSU) spokesperson Emily Guerrant.
Three hours after the attack began, campus police confirmed that the suspect was still at large and that five people had been wounded.
MSU police initially ordered students and staff to shelter in place after a report of shots fired around the school’s East Lansing campus.
An alert was sent shortly after 8.30pm by the university’s police department, advising students to “run, hide, fight”.
Police in the city of East Lansing, a college town near the state capital of Lansing and about 90 miles (145km) northwest of Detroit, tweeted that a single suspect, initially described as a short male wearing a mask, was at large and believed to be on foot.
UPDATE: The suspect is believed to be on foot right now. Community members on and off campus should continue to shelter in place. Police are continuing to respond. pic.twitter.com/FIUligmEBC
— MSU Police and Public Safety (@msupolice) February 14, 2023 Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was briefed on the shooting and said police were working to secure the area. “Let’s wrap our arms around the Spartan community tonight,” she wrote on Twitter, referring to the university’s athletic logo.
MSU’s flagship East Lansing campus has 50,000 graduate and undergraduate students. University police said all classes and campus activities would be canceled for the next 48 hours.
Reuters and Agence-France Presse contributed to this report