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The shooting at Michigan State University sent ripples throughout the state, including with current and former Dexter High School students
WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY MEGHAN DeWOLFE, NICK DOLETZKY, AND RYLEE TRACY
At approximately 8:18 p.m., February 13th, 2023, shots were fired in Berkley Hall at Michigan State. MSU officials sent out an alert to “run, hide, fight” to everyone in the area, and later sent out a shelter-in-place order.
It’s a day nobody will forget and will have effects for a lifetime. Three students were killed and five others were wounded during the shooting.
Many Dexter students go on to attend Michigan State University for higher education. What did the MSU students do to stay safe during the shooting? Were Dexter students affected by this tragedy? The Squall reached out to former Dreadnaughts who are now Spartans as well as to current students who have family members in East Lansing to hear their thoughts.
Mya Sobbry – 2022 DHS graduate
“I was about to take a power nap before I did some homework. I was on my phone and got an email with the subject being ‘shots fired’ and the Michigan State University ALERT. I clicked on the email and my roommate called me and said, ‘I’m not trying to freak you out, but there is a shooting in Berkey Hall. Come to our friends’ room.’ Berkey Hall is an eight-minute walk from me and a three-minute drive. I went into my friend’s dorm and locked the door. I think the worst part about this all was we knew exactly what to do. We have been trained since elementary school. We barricaded the door with our desk and my three friends and I sat in silence while listening to police sirens, screams, commotion and helicopters. At one point we thought we heard gunshots, but I’m not sure if we would’ve been able to hear that far away.”
Chance Sobbry DHS Sophomore
“I was at baseball and one of my friends texted me and told me the rumor that there was like six shooters on campus. I called my sister and she didn’t answer at first, so I just blew up her phone until she answered.”
Andrew Gersh 2022 DHS graduate
“I was in IM East lifting when I read a text that someone got shot at the union. We all got escorted into racquetball courts where we stayed until we got escorted out. We filled the corners closest to the door and also barricaded the door in case he tried to get in. At one point we all heard an automatic gun fire a ton of rounds followed by screams. I didn’t really take much action when I first heard there was a shooting because it was far from us and I didn’t quite understand the severity of the situation or the intention that the shooter had.”
Nathan Gersh DHS Freshman
“During the event I was honestly starting to lose it. Me and my family were listening to the police radio scanners and we had heard them say the shooter was at IM East,” Nathan said. “Prior to this, my mom was talking to my brother on the phone while he was in the pickleball courts inside IM East. After this, all I did was run to my room and spam call and text my brother. He would eventually respond after the swat had escorted them out. It had never really been that real. Overall, it was definitely a scary 30 minutes.”
Kelly Burke 2022 DHS graduate
“My dorm (Yakeley Hall) is near the union. My roommate and I were driving up Grand River a few minutes after the first shooting took place and nothing had been sent out yet. We saw two cop cars and kids running at Berkey Hall. At the time we didn’t know what just happened and were still driving. We kept having to pull over for more and more cop cars. Then, by the time [MSU] sent out what had happened, we were at Chick fil-A and obviously weren’t going to go back. We drove farther away to another parking lot and ultimately ended up driving home since we were away from the campus after we got the alerts and talked to our parents.”
Bruna Meister 2019 DHS Graduate
“We had just gotten back from dinner and then Brayden (MSU student and former Dexter student) texted me from campus that there was an active shooter. Shortly after, I received a text from my friend Danielle (Michigan State student) who texted us near the student union center where the first shots were heard. Danielle sent a link to the police scanner. I then proceeded to play the police scanner, turn all the lights off, lock the doors, and close the shades.”
Calvin Pham DHS Senior
“Generally at DHS, I feel very safe. Given the location, the low crime rates of the city of Dexter, and the close community within the high school, I’ve never felt in danger per se. Only danger I’ve felt would be the parking lot, scared of reckless teens bumping my vehicle.” “I don’t think Dexter prepares its students for something like what happened at MSU. And I also feel it is hard for a school system to prepare its kids for that. Obviously Dexter Community Schools will do lockdown drills, which are designed to prepare for a single-building intruder. MSU was an open-campus shooting which is much different than a high school, middle school, or elementary school shooter. In the sense of preparing for an intruder in a building, Dexter does it all right because they sort of only prepare for one scenario: every student is in their classroom and if we all hide, the intruder will think that school is not in session and will turn around and go home. And this attitude and training won’t prepare Dexter students for something like MSU.”
“As for me next year, I’m not really thinking about this scenario at my prospective schools. I understand it could happen anywhere, so I don’t believe it should affect my college decision. But, this did have an effect on my parents’ decision on where to send my younger sisters to school. My parents don’t mind if I go to a bigger school, but for my sisters, especially after this event, they would feel more comfortable if my sisters go to a smaller private school.”
Each student has their own story, and it is important to realize the different scenarios that students are in. Some happen to be in buildings away from the shooting and have more time to bunker down or run. But some students happen to be in the same building or even classroom. These students all had different experiences that have forever impacted their lives. The students and families in the Dexter communities have been impacted as the community’s next generation students continue their education at Michigan State University. As we move forward into upcoming years, the Michigan State shooting will be remembered through families and memories for years to come.
