EAST LANSING – Mel Tucker was one of the thousands of people at an emotional vigil on Wednesday night.
The Michigan State football coach was there for the same reason as the others – to honor the three students who were killed and five injured in Monday’s on-campus shooting.
“It was really a surreal experience,” Tucker recalled during halftime of the Michigan State women’s basketball team’s loss to Maryland on Saturday in East Lansing. “I’ve never experienced anything like that. You see these things happen other places in the past several years and for that to happen right here at your home, I really don’t know how to describe it.”
Anthony McRae is accused of fatally shooting Michigan State students Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner and wounding five others – four who remain in critical condition at Sparrow Hospital – on Monday night. The 43-year-old with no known connections to the university died hours later after a self-inflicted gunshot. The tragic incident shattered the Michigan State community.
“I’m really just still trying to process everything,” said Tucker, who is heading into his fourth season as head coach and began his career as a graduate assistant with the Spartans in 1997. “As a staff, we’re making sure we support our student-athletes, making sure that they’re OK and communicating to them that we’re here to support them any way that we can. Our mental health professionals are all hands on deck, all the coaches are checking in with the players. Our guys have been able to do some things on a voluntary basis to work out and things like that. It’s really just one day at a time. We’re just praying for all the families that were affected.”
Tucker was at Capital Prime in Lansing waiting for a takeout food order when he started getting a flurry of text messages about an active shooter on campus. Tucker saw others checking their phones and a restaurant employee he has seen numerous times thought their son was supposed to be at the MSU Union, one of the shooting locations. The man immediately went into the back to call his son and make sure he was OK.
“That was like a panic situation to see it unfolding,” Tucker said.
Michigan State’s campus was shut down as police and medical personnel swarmed to East Lansing. While parents frantically checked in on their children and students with friends, Tucker has more than 100 players on his roster to worry about.
“With our coaches, support staff and operation staff, everyone just checked in on the players to make sure everybody was accounted for,” Tucker said. “We were able to do that that night.”
Following the shooting, classes were canceled for the rest of the week. The campus went quiet while many honored the three students killed with flowers left at the Spartan Statue and the Rock, where Wednesday’s vigil took place. Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo gave an emotional address that evening while asking people to come together, which resonated with Tucker amid the crowd.
“That’s kind of the vibe that I’m getting on campus,” Tucker said. “When I see people, everyone’s asking are you OK, how’s the family? Everybody’s kind of checking on each other, checking in. I’ve got a lot of texts from across the country, checking in, asking how the players are doing, how everybody’s handling everything. Everybody processes things differently. My heart really goes out to the families who lost their loved ones and the students that were injured. Just so tragic. For me, it’s still a time of reflection and trying to process everything.”
Monday’s shooting led to Michigan State athletics pausing competitions before they resumed this weekend. Athletic director Alan Haller met with coaches and student-athletes and said the decision to resume playing was up to those who lost fellow classmates. Tucker’s team began a winter strength and conditioning program in January but that’s not his focus.
“We’re out of season right now and even though we’re training, preparing for spring ball, the most important thing is the health, safety and well-being of the student-athletes,” Tucker said. “That’s really what’s top of mind for us.”
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February 19, 2023 at 08:00PM
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Mel Tucker still processing fatal shooting at Michigan State - MLive.com
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