Video above: Michigan State students gather in wake of shooting

Public access to most buildings at Michigan State University will be restricted at night, the school announced Wednesday, one in a series of security steps in response to the February shootings that killed three students and wounded five more.

Students, faculty and staff will need to use their campus ID cards to gain electronic access to buildings between 6 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. on weekdays, starting March 13, officials said. There will be exceptions for events typically open to the general public.

Michigan State plans to make it possible to lock 1,300 classrooms from the inside by the fall semester. Students, faculty and staff will also be required to complete "active violence intruder training" next fall.

"The actions we are outlining today position us on a path to reclaim our sense of safety that was so violently taken away from our community," President Teresa Woodruff said. "These steps will provide more robust security on campus while better preparing our community to respond in these unfortunate situations."

A gunman shot eight students after 8 p.m. Feb. 13. Two students were killed at an academic building, Berkey Hall, while another was slain at the MSU Union, a gathering place for students and the public. Both remain closed.

The shooter, Anthony McRae, 43, later killed himself away from campus, police said.

Michigan State has 50,000 students and hundreds of buildings in East Lansing, about 90 miles northwest of Detroit.

Ryan Dodge, a 19-year-old student, said mandatory training to deal with armed intruders, unfortunately, is a sign of the times.

"Fire drills, tornado drills — those are natural occurrences," he said. "There's nothing natural about a shooter coming on campus, but it's just as dangerous now."

The university said it will expand its current network of 2,000 campus cameras. It also will hire an outside party to analyze the immediate response to the shootings and make the report public.

Video below: Rally held at MSU as students return to campus

"It's reasonable in that it could be much more onerous," Michigan State journalism professor Eric Freedman said of the new building policy. "Does it make it safer? I'm not sure. Will people feel safer? Maybe."

No change to building access during daytime hours was announced. Michigan State already restricts access to the living areas in residence halls, though dining areas on the ground floor typically are open to the public.

Jason Russell, president of Secure Education Consultants, which assesses security at K-12 schools, said Michigan State so far is taking a "measured reaction" to security in the wake of the shootings.

"The things they're adding are appropriate," said Russell, a former Secret Service agent whose daughter is a Michigan State student. "College campuses are inherently difficult to secure, unlike a K-12 school where kids are in the same building. MSU is huge."

The Michigan State shootings were 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. 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.

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — In the wake of the death of a Michigan State University student last weekend, the school and the Pi Alpha Phi national organization have suspended the school’s chapter of the fraternity.

The student, identified as Phat Nguyen, died early Saturday at a residence off campus. An autopsy was conducted but the Office of the Medical Examiner at Sparrow Hospital said the cause of death would not be determined until toxicology results are completed in six to eight weeks. Authorities have said alcohol consumption may have been a factor and shortly after the incident the East Lansing Police Department said its officers had responded to the scene where four people were “passed out,” including one who was not breathing.

According to the Lansing State Journal, Nguyen’s death came one day after the fraternity posted on its Facebook page that he was one of four students who had just joined the chapter.

University spokesman Dan Olsen would only say that the student’s death “had a relation to the fraternity” as an explanation as to why the school had suspended the fraternity’s registered student organization status. And in an email, Pi Alpha Phi confirmed that the chapter had been “placed under interim suspension pending investigation upon the death of a student member last weekend.”

As a result, Olsen said the fraternity will not be allowed to host any events on campus, access any of its university funds or accounts, take part in campus events representing the chapter or recruit students on campus to join the fraternity.

“We are heartbroken by this loss to our Spartan community and our thoughts and prayers are with the student’s family and friends,” Olsen said.

DETROIT — Former Michigan State University basketball star, Keith Appling, has been charged with first-degree murder in the deadly shooting of a 66-year-old man in Detroit on May 22.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday that Appling had been charged with murder, one count of felon in possession of a firearm, and two counts of felony firearm.

Appling's girlfriend, Natalie Banister, 28, is also being charged in connection to the case.

Police say the shooting happened around 7 p.m. in the 13240 block of Whitcomb Street.

Officers arrived at the home and found the victim, 66-year-old Clyde Edmonds, on the front lawn with multiple gunshot wounds.

Edmonds is related to Appling through marriage.

An investigation found that an argument over a handgun led to a deadly shooting.

Appling then fled the scene and was later arrested. Appling's girlfriend allegedly drove the getaway car.

She's now charged with one count of accessory after the fact and one count of lying to a peace officer.

Arraignments for Appling and Banister will be announced soon.

Appling played for Michigan State from 2010 to 2014. He also played briefly for the Orlando Magic.