‘When Does It Stop?’: Loved Ones Mourn 3 Victims Killed by MSU Gunman
On Monday night, as news spread of an active shooter on the Michigan State University campus, Flavor of Love star Deelishis posted a plea on Instagram, asking the public to help find her niece, 19-year-old Arielle Diamond Anderson. “My beautiful niece @ariellediamond_ is a student at MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY,” wrote Deelishis. “She was in her classroom in the same building as the active shooter and we have not heard from her. If you know her whereabouts please dm me.” The post was accompanied by a picture of Anderson, smiling, wearing an orange dress and a graduation cap.
On Tuesday, officials and family members released the identities of the three people shot to death at MSU Monday night. The deadly attack was the 67th mass shooting in 2023 (a year that’s not yet 50 days old), according to the Gun Violence Archive. Students Brian Fraser, 20, Alexandria Verner, 20, and Deelishis’ niece, Anderson, 19 — who were all from Michigan — were killed as a gunman moved from an academic building to a nearby student union. Police have said both locations were unlocked and open to the public. Five other students were injured and as of press time were still in the hospital in critical condition. Police found the suspect, Anthony McRae, 43, off campus four hours after the shooting began. Authorities said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
More from Rolling Stone
Gunman Found Dead; 3 Killed, 5 Wounded in Michigan State Campus Shooting
U.S. Military Shoots Down High-Altitude Object Over Lake Huron
Tyre Nichols' Parents and Monterey Park Hero to Attend State of the Union Address
As the country grapples with an onslaught of mass shootings ushering in 2023, friends and loved ones are remembering the victims. Clawson Public Schools Superintendent Billy Shellenbarger, a family friend of Verner’s, told CNN Verner played volleyball, basketball and softball in high school and described her as an excellent student. “Her kindness was on display every single second you were around her,” said Shellenbarger, who was the principal of Clawson High School in Clawson, Michigan, while Verner was a student there. She graduated in 2020.
“She was amazing. She was everything you would want your daughter to be. She’s everything you’d want a student to be. She’s everything you’d want in a friend, sister,” Shellenbarger said.
Verner’s father, Ted Verner, described his daughter as “a beautiful soul” to the Washington Post. “It’s going to be my mission in life to make sure that families don’t go through what we went through,” he said.
Friends of the slain students shared their own memories of them. The Michigan Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta mourned the loss of Fraser. A statement from the fraternity described him as the chapter president. “Brian was our leader, and we loved him,” a social media post said. “He cared deeply about his Phi Delt brothers, his family, Michigan State University, and Phi Delta Theta. We will greatly miss Brian and mourn his death deeply as our chapter supports each other during this difficult time.”
“He was a good kid,” his father, Sean Fraser, told the Detroit News. “He was loved by everyone.”
Family members also remembered the victims for the promise they’d shown as young adults. Anderson’s grandmother told the Detroit Free Press her granddaughter had wanted to become a pediatrician. Anderson’s uncle, Tim Davis, told the The Detroit News his niece had taken up photography three years before.
“Arielle was literally just kind-hearted,” he said. “She was just sweet and innocent. She just stayed innocent her whole life. She was soft-spoken. Always helpful. In my opinion, she was just perfect the way she conducted herself. She had great manners and was respectful. She was very smart, a straight-A student. I’m pretty sure you will hear that from everybody.”
Kimella Spivey, an aunt of Anderson’s, told Detroit Free Press her niece had been involved in multiple extracurriculars, including working with senior citizens. “This is so unbelievable. When does it stop? Really? I mean, it’s one after the other after the other,” Spivey said.
Best of Rolling Stone
