Group organizes walkout on 1-month anniversary of MSU shooting

A Michigan State University student group advocating for changes to the state's gun laws plans to hold a demonstration and walkout Sunday on campus to highlight the impact of the Feb. 13 shooting.

Spartans Against Gun Violence said Saturday in a post on Instagram that it is hosting an "MSU Walkout Walk Together" event, which was originally scheduled at 2:13 p.m. on Monday but was rescheduled to Sunday due to inclement weather. The event was organized with the MSU Museum, it said. The timing of the walkout coincides with the date of the shooting that left three students dead and five injured.

The group invites students and faculty to leave the school's dining halls, dorms and classrooms and join a walk to the demonstration field behind the university's Spartan Statue "where they will have the opportunity to preserve their stories for future Spartans," according to the post.

"This is a non-political visual demonstration meant to display the impact 2/13 had on our community," it also said.

Three students were killed in the Feb. 13 shooting: Arielle Anderson, 19, of Harper Woods; Brian Fraser, 20, of Grosse Pointe; and Alexandria Verner, 20, of Clawson.

Police identified the gunman as 43-year-old Anthony McRae. Officials said McRae shot and killed himself as police approached the Lansing home he was in, about 4 miles from the campus in East Lansing.

The walkout is part of a series of actions planned by Spartans Against Gun Violence. Other events include making posters Tuesday and a rally on Wednesday at the state Capitol in Lansing featuring former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, a gun violence survivor.

Two of the five students wounded in the Feb. 13 shooting, meanwhile, remain hospitalized at Lansing's Sparrow Hospital, said a spokesman Monday. One is in stable condition and one remains in critical condition.

cramirez@detroitnews.com