Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the MSU shooter was not eligible to have a gun based on a weapons offense conviction several years ago. 

The gunman was charged in June 2019 with a felony, carrying a concealed weapon, which has a maximum penalty of five years behind bars, and a misdemeanor, possession of a loaded firearm in or upon a vehicle, which could have been punishable by up to two years in jail. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and was sentenced to probation and discharged in May 2021.

Nessel said on MSNBC on Tuesday afternoon that the gunman “did have a weapons offense conviction from a few years ago. He was ineligible to possess or purchase a firearm.”

“So one of the things that we’re going to need to know is how did he get that weapon? And can we put laws in place here in Michigan to ensure that a person, such as himself, who’s ineligible to own a firearm can never access one?” she said. 

“So I expect to see a number of new laws put into place in short order, whether or not that would have prevented this particular offense from happening. I think the investigation will tell us that,” she added. 

Nessel, whose own sons attend MSU, said in a statement Monday, “As a parent, there is no greater fear than having your child tell you there is an active shooter at their school.”

“I experienced this terror along with thousands of other MSU families last night. While my Spartan sons are safe, I am mourning the devastating loss and senseless violence,” she added.

The third student fatally shot in the campus shooting was junior Arielle Anderson, according to an update from Michigan State University police.

Anderson was from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, as was another victim, Brian Fraser. The third student killed, Alexandria Verner, was from Clawson, Michigan.

Michigan State University senior Jackie Matthews was 11 years old when the horrific mass shooting occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in her hometown of Newtown, Connecticut.

On Monday evening, those memories from her community’s tragedy came flooding back as school officials put MSU on lockdown amid news of an active shooter on campus. 

“Something so traumatic is devastating no matter what age you are,” said Matthews, 21, who remembers being on lockdown at Reed Intermediate School, the neighboring school to Sandy Hook.

Three students were killed and five were wounded in the MSU shooting, which unfolded across two scenes, an academic building and the student union.

As soon as Matthews learned of the situation, she started texting her friends to make sure they were safe.

“When we found out there was an active shooter across the street, we immediately locked our door,” she said. “After that, we started contacting everyone we knew … I’m just trying to be a part of the support that I received when I was at Sandy Hook for anyone at Michigan State.”

Berkey Hall, where two of the three victims' bodies were found, is a five-minute walk, just two crosswalks away, from Matthews’ home. She said earlier in the night, her roommate had been studying there when she grew uneasy. Later in the evening, they heard the news.

The suspect, who was not affiliated with MSU, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. Students and others sheltered in place for hours on the East Lansing campus, which is home to 50,000 students.

Matthews posted a TikTok early Tuesday recounting her experiences with both the MSU and the Sandy Hook shootings.

“I am 21 years old and this is now the second mass shooting I have lived through,” she said in the video, which has been viewed more than 1.3 million times on TikTok. The video has since been posted to other platforms like Twitter, where it continues to reach millions of viewers.

President Joe Biden released a statement Tuesday grieving the Michigan State University shooting, saying, “Action is what we owe to those grieving today in Michigan and across America.”

“Jill and I are praying for the three students killed and the five students fighting for their lives after last night’s shooting at Michigan State University,” he said in the statement.

He said he spoke with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday night and directed the deployment of all necessary federal law enforcement to support local efforts. 

He noted how Monday's shooting occurred one day before the fifth anniversary of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 in 2018. 

He called on Congress to “enact commonsense gun law reforms,” including requiring background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. 

Michigan State University police officially identified two of the fatalities in the campus shooting as sophomore Brian Fraser and junior Alexandria Verner. 

Fraser was from Grosse Pointe and Verner from Clawson, both in Michigan. 

The name of the third deceased victim is not being released out of respect for the family’s wishes, authorities said. 

The five victims wounded in the hospital remain in critical condition as of Tuesday afternoon. Their names have not been released.  

One of the three Michigan State University students killed in Monday night’s shooting was identified by her former school district as Alexandria Verner. 

Clawson Public Schools in Clawson, Michigan, released a letter to district families Tuesday, saying Verner, a 2020 graduate of Clawson High School, “passed away last night on the campus of Michigan State University.”

District Superintendent Billy Shellenbarger said he spoke to the Verner family and they gave permission to release her name. 

He remembered Verner as a “tremendous student, athlete, leader” who “exemplified kindness every day of her life.”

“If you knew her, you loved her and we will forever remember the lasting impact she has had on all of us,” he wrote. 

“Her parents, Ted and Nancy, and sister Charlotte and brother TJ are equally grieving but are certainly already feeling the uplifting support of this tremendous community,” Shellenbarger wrote.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former speaker of the House, condemned gun violence and urged for legislative action following the shooting.

"As Michigan State University endures heartbreak on this day dedicated to love and Parkland mourns 5 years since their tragic loss, we are compelled anew to disarm hate and #EndGunViolence," she tweeted Tuesday.

Campus police tweeted Tuesday that authorities found a note on the suspect and that it is being investigated.

This is the second school shooting of the year, according to NBC News’ school shooting tracker.

Last year, 29 people — 23 students and six staff members — were killed and 29 injured by gunfire in seven school shootings. So far this year, three people, all of them students, have been killed and six injured.