A college student who survived the deadly Michigan State University shooting on Monday night is also one of the survivors of the horrific Sandy Hook massacre that took place over 10 years ago. Jackie Matthews, who was lucky to escape the carnage after gunman Anthony McRae opened fire inside her college campus, made the revelation in a TikTok video.
Three students were killed and five others were critically wounded in Monday night's attack at Michigan State University. The carnage continued for more than four hours and ended after McRae, the lone attacker, shot himself dead after he was approached by the police along Lansing Road.
Luckily Escaped
Matthews, who is currently a senior at MSU, attended Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, when shooter Adam Lanza killed 20 children and six teachers and staff.
"I am 21 years old, and this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through," Jackie Matthews said in an emotional TikTok video shared on Tuesday.
Speaking from a room across the hall from where Anthony Dwayne McRae shot and killed several MSU students just hours earlier, Matthews claimed that the hours she spent hunched over in her Sandy Hook classroom have left her with a "full-blown PTSD fracture" in her lower back.
"The fact that this is the second mass shooting that I have now lived through is incomprehensible," Matthews said.
"My heart goes out to all the families and the friends of the Michigan State shooting," she continued.
"But we can no longer just provide love and prayers. It needs to be legislation, it needs to be action. It's not okay. We can no longer allow this to happen. We can no longer be complacent."
Later, Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts posted Matthews' powerful message on Twitter, where it received tens of thousands of retweets and comments. "We've let down generations of children by letting this continue," one user replied.
"No person should ever endure what you have endured, even once," another wrote.
Matthews isn't the only MSU survivor dealing with the fallout from their second school shooting. Another MSU freshman, whose name wasn't released, managed to escape the Oxford High School shooting in 2021.
Insensitive and Without a Motive
This came as it was revealed that McRae, 43, had no connection to MSU, and his motive is still unclear. He died late on Monday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
According to police, McRae had a note in his pocket where he threatened to attack two high schools in New Jersey, forcing the Ewing township to keep all its schools closed on Tuesday. According to public records, McRae lived with his father in Lansing. His mother died last year.
It is also not known what he did for a living. However, police revealed that he routinely posted disturbing exorcist images, selfies with crucifixes, and bible verses while ranting about God on social media. He also posted about Satan and schizophrenia.
Police said McRae was found dead with a note in his pocket wherein he threatened to attack two Ewing, New Jersey, public schools, which prompted police to shutter them for the day.
"When McRae was found by police in Michigan, he had a note in his pocket that indicated a threat to two Public Schools," the Township of Ewing Police Department said, without elaborating on the exact nature.
According to authorities, McRae had "local ties to Ewing" and "a history of mental health issues." His mother, 62-year-old devout churchgoer Linda Gail McRae, was from Trenton, according to her obituary, and a number of her family members still seem to live there.
Also, McRae was earlier arrested in 2019 for keeping a loaded gun in his car. He started shooting on the MSU campus around 8:18 pm on Monday night. He first killed two students at Berkey Hall before moving on to Union Hall, where he killed a third student.
