A Michigan State University mother and anti-gun violence advocate says Monday’s deadly shooting on campus reinforces her efforts to achieve sensible gun control.
Kelly Dillaha’s phone was flooded Monday night with messages from concerned friends asking about her twin sons who both attend MSU.
As the chaos on campus unfolded, Dillaha remembers the worst part of the evening for her:
“My kids texted a picture showing how they’d moved their furniture in their house to barricade their door and they’d sent it to my husband asking if he thought they’d reinforced the door well enough,” Dillaha said.
She says she better understands how one act of violence can bring many people together.
“I realize now how one incident has such rippling effects, and how it doesn’t just end the day after,” she added. “This is going to keep going for a while.”
For months, Dillaha has been an active member of the statewide coalition End Gun Violence Michigan.
She says Michigan now has an opportunity to enact common sense gun legislation that’s been enacted in other states.
“We’re advocating for red flag laws, we’re advocating for secure storage laws, and we’re advocating for true universal background checks,” Dillaha said.
Police say 43-year-old Anthony McRae opened fire at two Michigan State University buildings, killing three people and wounding five others.
On Tuesday afternoon, The Michigan State University Department of Police and Public Safety released the names of two of the students killed in the shooting.
McRae was pursued by police and later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
