His father Michael McRae, who spoke to CNN by phone in an interview Tuesday morning, said the Michigan State University gunman became bitter, isolated and “violently angry” after when his mother died of a stroke two years ago.
Michael McRae said: “Since my wife passed away, my son has started to change. “He is getting more and more cynical. Angry and bitter. Very angry. Evil angry… He started to really let himself go. His teeth fell out. He stopped cutting his hair. He looks like a werewolf.”
Anthony Dwayne McRae, 43, lives with his father in a small house in Lansing, Michigan. His father said his son had trouble keeping a job and was not employed, but had worked about seven years earlier at a warehouse loading refrigerators onto a truck.
Michael McRae said about 30 police officers went to his home and passed through his son’s bedroom after Monday night’s shooting that left three people dead and five others injured.
Michael McRae said his son was living in seclusion when his mother, Linda, died. After her death, he said that his son was “lost, completely lost”.
“He doesn’t care about anything anymore. And he’s not talking to me or anyone,” McRae said, adding that his son would be in his bedroom for hours playing video games.
“He just goes out to go to the kitchen or to the bathroom, then he’ll be right back,” said senior McRae.
Michael McRae said he was worried about his son, but when he asked Anthony McRae to see a doctor, his son refused.
“He gets mad if I try to ask him for help,” he said. “I tried to help him. He will close the door. He’s in the room a lot.”
“I don’t want to start trouble – he’s going to get mad at me,” he added.
McRae said his son had a gun several years ago, but police confiscated it. Court documents show that the younger McRae pleaded guilty to the firearms charge in 2019. The father said he believed his son had obtained another gun but kept it in his room and denied to his father that he was. have it.
McRae said his son’s mood changes quickly and he won’t talk to his father when he’s angry.
“I don’t know what happened to make him like this,” he said.
“He would treat me like I was invisible. I would ask, ‘why are you treating me this way? What did I do?’” he said.
