2019 surveillance footage reveals that the Michigan State University shooter who killed three students and gravely injured five more inquired about keeping his weapon when he was detained for illegal firearm possession.
Anthony McRae, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after opening fire on the East Lansing campus, was arrested carrying a loaded Ruger.380 handgun without a concealed weapons permit on June 7, 2019, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
“Will they confiscate the firearm?” The Detroit News revealed a body camera video of the incident on Wednesday, in which McRae can be heard asking from the back of a patrol cruiser.
The officer transporting McRae to the booking station, whose identity could not be immediately determined, then explained that the prosecuting attorneys would seize the pistol as evidence.
McRae is seen asking arresting police Officer James Zolnai if he “could go to prison” for the pending charges in separate body camera footage provided by the Detroit Free Press from earlier in the evening.
The footage reveals that McRae did not resist arrest and was escorted to the station without incident.
McRae was initially charged with felony weapons possession, which would have prohibited him from owning firearms in the future. But, he ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for a bargain with the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office.
Former Ingham County District Attorney Carol Siemon, who was criticized for being soft on crime until her retirement at the beginning of this year, reduced his charges.
According to an interview his father gave to the Washington Post following Monday night’s attack, McRae purchased a second firearm in 2021 shortly after completing his probation.
McRae’s estranged uncle, Timothy McRae, said in an interview with The Post this week that police should have observed his nephew more closely after his detention in 2019.
“When the police encounter people who shouldn’t have firearms and have the opportunity to evaluate them, they should evaluate them rather than giving them probation and releasing them back onto the street,” he said Wednesday.
Timothy also mentioned that McRae, a former warehouse worker, had “mental issues,” including “paranoid schizophrenia” that caused him to hear voices.
Officials continue to investigate the fatal shooting while providing updates into McRae’s mental health and prior run-ins with the law.
MSU students Brian Fraser, Arielle Diamond Anderson, and Alexandria Verner have been identified as the three victims of the mass shooting.
As of Thursday morning, five others remained hospitalized in critical condition.
Zolnai was placed on paid administrative leave in early January 2023, only weeks before McRae’s murderous attack on the MSU campus, after he was involved in the fatal shooting of a suspect, according to The Detroit News.
It is unknown whether the investigation of Zolnai’s behavior is still active.
»Anthony McRae inquired about getting his gun back after his arrest in 2019«