EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University student and Zeeland native is sharing her story of survival after a gunman opened fire on campus last week, killing three students and hurting five others.
The incident started around 8:18 p.m. inside Berkey Hall on the East Lansing campus.
Police received multiple calls about a shooting inside the hall. When they arrived, officers found several victims, two of which were dead.
The suspect, identified as Anthony McRae, 43, then moved to the Michigan State Union building, adjacent to Berkey Hall, where he allegedly opened fire again, killing one.
Police found McRae outside of campus in the Lansing area due to a tip. When police approached the suspect, he took his own life.
Police say McRae is not affiliated in any way with MSU.
Marcy Creevy's still processing through all of her emotions, but her main reason for speaking out is she hopes there may be things people can learn from the horrific situation.
"Randomly, like I wake up and I'm just bawling my eyes out, or I'm angry and I want to throw things or I want to punch something."
Creevy was studying at the MSU Union when shortly after 8 p.m. Monday, she noticed red and blue flashing lights outside.
She saw SWAT with police pointing their rifles up to the building.
"That's when I heard a woman scream, running down the hall yelling 'shooter!' At that point I was...My instincts just flipped on somehow."
She also heard a possible gunshot.
It was fight or flight and tactical instincts that kicked in.
She shut the door, turned off the lights and hid underneath a desk in another room with fellow students.
"I wasn't crying and I didn't feel scared and that's crazy to say, but I didn't feel like we were about to be in so much danger. I was just so focused on the people around me and making sure they were okay."
She even heard who she thought was the shooter at one point.
"It was a deep voice and my first thought was that's the shooter. He's going to come into our room and you know, like, we're going to die," said Creevy.
But her focus remained on keeping her fellow students calm.
"Which is a crazy thing to me still, because I just don't understand how, you know, I was just so focused on staying calm, making sure they were okay and staying quiet through their screams and cries and all of that."
She was also thinking about her own family.
"I just kept telling everyone, 'I promise we'll be safe. We'll be safe.'"
Eventually the police came and guided them out of the building.
Creevy says she broke down when officers left them to find somewhere new to hide.
"I remember we just stopped in the middle of the road and we just all looked at each other. We're like, 'Where are we supposed to go?' And we just kept saying that. We were literally just screaming and crying, 'Where are we supposed to go?'"
Still fearful because the shooter's location was unknown, she and her fellow students took shelter inside a nearby restaurant until family members came to pick them up.
Getting over this terrifying ordeal isn't going to be easy, but Creevy says they will all be Spartan Strong together.
"Knowing that we have such a great community and I have such a great support system I think is what's going to get me and all of us through it."
She says she's ready to go back to class for the support.
"It's not because I'm ready to get back and learn about research methods. It's not that. I'm ready to get back into the classroom and be surrounded by people, and be surrounded by friends. Just being in a room full of people because that's what I love."
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Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call 844-99-MSUPD or email tips@police.msu.edu.
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