The Detroit News reported one confirmed fatality on campus, citing Michigan State University (MSU) spokesperson Emily Guerrant, but Reuters could not independently verify that information.
Few official details about the gunfire were immediately available, but university police said on Twitter that shots were fired in two locations – near an academic building known as Berkey Hall and at an athletic facility called IM East. The reported fatality occurred inside Berkey Hall, Guerrant told the Detroit News.
“There are multiple reported injuries,” Michigan State University (MSU) said on its police and public safety Twitter feed.
MSU ALERT: There have been shots fired near Berkey Hall on the East Lansing campus. Please secure-in-place immediat… https://t.co/hq5Wt70o35
— MSU Police and Public Safety (@msupolice) 1676338812000
Police and the city of East Lansing, a college town near the state capital of Lansing and about 90 miles northwest of Detroit, tweeted that a single suspect, described as a short male wearing a mask, was at large and believed to be on foot.
MSU is a major public institution of higher education whose flagship East Lansing campus accounts for 50,000 graduate and undergraduate students.
Police said that IM East, the athletic facility, had been secured.