A look at the Michigan State mass shooting

A 43-year-old gunman opened fire Monday night on the campus of Michigan State University, killing three students and wounding five others before fatally shooting himself off-campus after an hours-long manhunt.

🏫 More details… Police said the 43-year-old man "had a history of mental illness" and didn’t have any apparent connection to Michigan State, though all eight shooting victims were MSU students. The five surviving victims are currently hospitalized in critical condition.

• After shots were first reported in two school buildings around 8pm, the ~19,000 MSU students who live on campus were ordered to turn off all lights and lock themselves in their rooms, where they remained until the gunman’s body was discovered more than three hours later.

🇺🇲 Zoom out: Data shows mass shootings are headed the same direction as a driver seeing headlights on a one-way road: the wrong way. The US experienced 690 mass shootings last year, defined as four or more victims injured or killed, according to the Gun Violence Archive. That represents a 153% increase since 2014, the first year the organization began collecting data.

🏛️ On Capitol Hill: In a statement addressing Monday night’s shooting at Michigan State, President Biden renewed a call for Congress to consider a series of gun control measures that include mandatory background checks on all gun sales, a federal ban on assault weapons, mandatory safe storage of guns, and eliminating some legal immunities for gun manufacturers.

📊 Flash poll (long-form): In your opinion, what can be done to reduce the occurrence of mass shootings in America? The best responses will be featured in tomorrow’s newsletter.

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