EAST LANSING, Mich. — When shots fired out on Monday evening at Michigan State University's Union, students and staff ran immediately, leaving everything behind.
On Wednesday, they were allowed back in to retrieve their belongings, entering the building for the first time since the tragic shooting alongside FBI agents and mental health professionals. The Union and Berkey Hall were the two buildings where a gunman opened fire.
"I heard a series of bangs, and initially I thought it was someone goofing around banging together metal pans," said MSU student Andrew Strominger, "but I looked in the kitchen and people were running, and that's when I knew this was serious."
Strominger, a sophomore from Milford, Michigan, was working at his job inside MSU's Union food court Monday evening. He was in the room directly next to where the gunman had entered.
"I ran straight out the back doors," he said. "As I was getting away, I ran across Abbot Street, and I remember there was like a car that had to stop because there were just so many of us running out."
"And once we crossed, we all kind of paused for a second, and then we continued running," he added.
Strominger said he and other students ran to a room in a nearby building and barricaded the doors.
"The first thing I did was call my mom," he said.
"My husband and I had run straight down there," said Andrew's mother, Anne. "We were parked across the street watching, waiting and listening to the scanners."
"[Andrew] was erring on the side of caution, not wanting to come out until officials told him to come out," she added, "but when he did, we grabbed him and I have not wanted to let him go."
It was in the hours after the shooting that Andrew said he found out one of his co-workers, Brian Fraser, was one of the students who had been killed.
"I'm not sure if I'll ever go back to work," Andrew said, "but if I do, it's going to be a long time."
Not even 48 hours after the tragic shooting, nearly 100 students were allowed to return to the Union to retrieve the things they had left behind when they ran.
"Their laptops, backpacks, phones, all left in place where the students were sitting, eating, studying and socializing," said Jim Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office.
"In preparation for getting the items back to the students, we essentially cleaned the area of food and trash that was left behind," he added. "We left all the students items exactly where they were when they were left."
Tarasca explained that each student and their family or support system was brought in one at a time, paired with victim specialists who were brought in by the FBI from around the country.
"If they preferred us to retrieve their items and bring them out, we could do that, as well," said Tarasca.
It was an emotional afternoon as students and their families returned to the building.
"I haven't gone back in there yet, but that's one of the things I'm kind of worried about," said Strominger. "I don't know how I'm going to react to seeing all that."
"They will not have to go into any impacted areas of the building, and there will be arrangements made for them to feel comfortable," said Marlon Lynch, MSU's Vice President for Public Safety and Chief of Police. "What is not lost in this process and will be part of everything we do is making sure that the impact of our community, and their health and well being is considered in everything that we do moving forward."
Michigan State University and FBI authorities said that on Thursday, students will be able to return to the other crime scene at Berkey Hall to retrieve their belongings.
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