Students begin to retrieve possessions from scene of MSU shooting

East Lansing — Michigan State University students and others began on Wednesday to return to the MSU Union to retrieve items left behind as shots rang out on Monday night, resulting in the deaths of three MSU students and the hospitalization of five others in shootings at the Union and Berkey Hall.

The university said faculty and staff who were in or have office space in the MSU Union were to pick up belongings there late Wednesday afternoon. Students, faculty and staff who were at Berkey Hall are invited to get their things at 10 a.m. Thursday. Mental health professionals were expected to be on-site at both locations.

One of students who returned Wednesday was Brenden Kevelighan, 20, of Rochester Hills, who was at the MSU Union Monday night eating dinner when he heard the first shot. He didn't realize what it was until he heard several more.

He flipped the table he was sitting at and crouched behind it, he said.

When the shots stopped, he ran out one of the back doors and headed to Mayo Hall, where he banged on the locked door until he saw his friend's girlfriend and she let him in. No one in Mayo knew about the shooting, as this was before the first 8:40 p.m. emergency text came out.

Two girls he did not know let him hang in their room instead of staying in the lobby, he said. His phone had fallen to the ground when he flipped the table, and he hadn't grabbed it before running from the building, he said.

He used a friend's phone to contact people whose numbers he knew, but his mom had recently gotten a new phone and he didn’t have her number memorized. His girlfriend ultimately contacted his mom and told her he was OK, but his mom, Tracey Cooley, said she was still unsettled about it until she heard his voice.

MSU police said Tuesday that two students were fatally shot at Berkey Hall while the third victim was at the Union.

Cooley went with Kevelighan to pick up his phone from the Union Wednesday as the FBI's Detroit Field Office and Victim Services Division began to assist MSU students, faculty and staff in recovering personal items left behind at the crime scenes.

It didn't bother Kevelighan to go back to the building, but he said it was a little strange having the FBI there.

Some students appeared to be crying as they left the Union Wednesday, though many did not want to talk to reporters.

An FBI agent met students at the police tape that was still strung up outside the Union, walking with them into the building to claim their belongings.

Three dogs were at the entrance to the Union, waiting to console people if they needed it, or greet them with a friendly tail wag.

kberg@detroitnews.com