EAST LANSING, Mich. —

Video above: Michigan State University officials, police provide update early Tuesday morning on shootings

A gunman opened fire Monday night at Michigan State University, killing three people and wounding five more, before fatally shooting himself off campus amid an hourslong manhunt during which frightened students hid in the dark.

Police reported the man's death early Tuesday, four hours after shootings broke out, first at Berkey Hall, an academic building, and then nearby at the MSU Union, a popular hub to eat or study.

"This truly has been a nightmare we're living tonight," said Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the campus police department.

Hundreds of officers had scoured the East Lansing campus, about 90 miles northwest of Detroit, for the suspect.

The suspect, who police said was a 43-year-old man who had no affiliation with Michigan State University, was found dead off campus from a "self-inflicted gunshot wound."

His name was not released.

Rozman said it was too early to know a motive and whether the man had some type of affiliation with the university.

Video below: Heavy police presence on MSU campus

"There's a lot that we don't know at this point," Rozman said.

Two people were killed at Berkey and another was killed at the MSU Union, he said.

Police said in an early Tuesday morning news briefing that the five victims who were taken to Sparrow Hospital all remain in critical condition.

By 10:15 p.m., police said Berkey, as well as nearby residence halls, were secured.

Before the gunman was found dead, WDIV-TV meteorologist Kim Adams, whose daughter attends Michigan State, told viewers that students were worn down by the hourslong saga.

Video below: Police provide initial update on Michigan State University shootings

"They've been hiding, all the lights off in a dark room," Adams said. "Their cellphones are starting to lose battery charge. They don't all have chargers with them and losing contact with the outside world is terrifying on a normal day for college kids, let alone when there's someone out there that they haven't caught yet."

Aedan Kelley, a junior who lives a half-mile east of campus, said he locked his doors and covered his windows "just in case." Sirens were constant, he said, and a helicopter hovered overhead.

"It's all very frightening," Kelley said. "And then I have all these people texting me wondering if I'm OK, which is overwhelming."

Michigan State has about 50,000 students. All campus activities were canceled for 48 hours, including athletics and classes.

The shooting at Michigan State is the latest in what has become a deadly new year in the U.S. Dozens of people have died in mass shootings so far in 2023, most notably in California where 11 people were killed as they welcomed the Lunar New Year at a dance hall popular with older Asian Americans.

In 2022, there were more than 600 mass shootings in the U.S. in which at least four people were killed or injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

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Kusmer reported from Indianapolis.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — In the wake of tragedy, support has poured into the Michigan State University community.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the university says $346,000 has been donated to the newly created Spartan Strong fund, and thousands more will be donated through the sale of official Spartan Strong T-shirts.

Alumni have also been giving their time. On "Spartan Sunday," parents and alumni flocked to campus, giving out snacks and hugs to students returning to campus this week. Steve Culp of Troy was one of many alumni on campus.

“Went up to East Lansing for Spartan Sunday to volunteer and help out, and as happens with most things, pictures were taken,” Culp explained.

A picture of him and a friend volunteering was posted to the Detroit Spartan Alumni page, but it soon spread in ways he never thought.

“All of a sudden, I get direct messages or people tag me saying, 'Hey, do you know this is going on with your picture?' And it’s a copy of the picture, but it has a different image on it," he said.

Just six hours later, his picture appeared on a random Facebook page cropped with a different logo on his sweatshirt. The post also included a link to purchase the sweatshirt, which by the next day had over 600 likes.

"It's kind of hurtful, honestly," Culp said of his picture being used to deceive Spartans.

He added that it's not a complete surprise that this happened.

“But it was still shocking once you do see what's going on," Culp said. "They say they’re selling merchandise — I hope no one is ordering them.”

The website has numerous other Spartan Strong shirts for sale, which are supposed to be benefiting the Spartan Strong fund, but the site has no affiliation to the university.

"We have seen an uptick in scams as well as individuals selling unlicensed apparel," MSU deputy spokesperson Dan Olsen said. “The university cannot independently verify that those proceeds from the sales of those unlicensed products will be donated to the Spartan Strong fund."

The Better Business Bureau says these scams often happen in the wake of tragedies across the country.

“Anytime there's a tragedy such as what’s happened at MSU, there are scammers out there that try to play on your heartstrings and play on your emotions,” said Laura Blankenship, chief of staff for the BBB in Eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. “It's very sad and unfortunately, it's something we see happening more and more.”

Blankenship says to always look out for red flags and only rely on licensed, official websites. If a website doesn't have a mailing address, company name or was newly created, it is likely a scam. Getting your money back after a scam purchase can also be challenging, and scammers are often never caught.

“Sadly, it’s easy for them to pop up quickly and then disappear, especially if they’re in another country, which more often than not they are,” Blankenship said. “In true scams, which is what we’re seeing pop up currently, the person never receives the product and none of the actual funds go to who it says that it’s benefiting."

In fact, the Facebook page posting the links and the doctored photo was newly created, and the profile picture is of an MSU freshman who also survived the Oxford High School shooting. The photo was provided us by her family last week, but now, scammers have taken the photo and are using it without her permission.

“On top of everything else that has happened, for this to happen, it’s like the straw breaks the camels back,” Culp said.

The university says the only vendors licensed to sell Spartan Strong merchandise are:
 

• Nudge Printing
• Colosseum
• Underground Printing
• Blue 84
• CDI Corp.
• A. Dean Watkins
• 4Imprint
• Sewing Concepts
• Zephyr
• Gametime Sidekicks

Other retailers can contact the university to become licensed, and the school says all royalties are also being donated to the fund.

Consumers who believe they have seen products or services that do not appear to be licensed by MSU can contact University Licensing Programs at licensing@union.msu.edu or 517-355-3434.

You can also file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or local police if you fall victim to a scam.

This article was written by WXYZ.