Who is the suspect in the Michigan State University shooting and what do we know about him?

Video shows students running away during shooting in Michigan 3:58

(CNN) --

Authorities have identified the perpetrator of the Michigan State University (MSU) mass shooting as 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae.

This is what we know about him:

MSU shooter pleaded guilty to a firearm charge in 2019, court records show

The suspect in the Michigan State University shooting had pleaded guilty to one charge of carrying a firearm.

Anthony Dwayne McRae was arrested in 2019 and charged with a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a loaded firearm and spent a year and a half on probation.

• Last minute shooting at Michigan State University

At around 2 a.m. ET on June 7, 2019, according to court records, a Lansing Police Department officer saw McRae sitting on the back steps of an abandoned building smoking a cigarette.

The officer, who was patrolling the area after several robberies in the vicinity, asked McRae if he was armed, and McRae said he was.

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The officer frisked McRae and confirmed that he had a loaded semi-automatic pistol in his pants pocket, as well as another magazine for the pistol in his breast pocket.

McRae admitted that he did not have a concealed weapons license, and the officer pulled him over.

McRae told the officer that he was carrying the gun for his safety and that he was trying to get a permit to carry the gun.

According to court records, the officer confirmed the gun was registered to McRae.

An attorney for McRae initially argued that the officer lacked probable cause to search him.

But in November 2019, McRae pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a loaded firearm as part of a plea deal.

McRae agreed to relinquish the gun involved in the case and was prohibited from owning guns during his probation.

Initially, McRae was sentenced to a year of probation, but it was later extended to a year and a half.

McRae was released from probation in May 2021, court records show.

Police tape surrounds Michigan State University Union on East Grand River Avenue after an active shooting on the school's East Lansing campus on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, which left three dead and multiple injured.

Michigan shooter was socially isolated, his sister says

Melinda McRae, sister of the MSU shooter, said she is "shocked" by the news and has "no idea" what might have motivated her brother to carry out the shooting.

McRae had long been socially isolated and clashed with her parents, though she said they had a loving home growing up.

Lately he lived isolated in a room in his father's house.

She said McRae would often lash out at his mother, and then when she died in 2020, he would express deep grief, saying, "I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry..."

"My mother said that Anthony was going to be the death of her," she said, referring to their social hostility.

"He's always been like the weirdo in the family. But they took care of him. My parents took care of us."

Melinda McRae said her brother was also prone to transient living, leaving town sporadically and having a hard time holding down a job.

"He was leaving the state. He was leaving my mother and father...".

Sometimes he would go "to different cities and just live in a shelter," he said.

Melinda McRae said she last saw her brother at their mother's funeral in 2020.

"I am very sorry for the innocent people who were killed," he said.

• The last three years have seen a worrying increase in US shootings.

Father says his son became "wickedly angry" after his mother's death

The MSU shooter became bitter, withdrawn and "wickedly furious" after his mother died of a stroke two years ago, according to his father Michael McRae, who spoke to CNN by phone in an interview Tuesday morning.

"Since my wife died, my son started to change," said Michael McRae.

"He was getting more and more bitter. Angry and bitter. Very angry. Evil angry... he started to get really carried away. His teeth fell out. He stopped cutting his hair. He looked like a werewolf."

Anthony Dwayne McRae, 43, lived with his father in a small house in Lansing, Michigan.

His father said his son was having trouble holding down a job and did not have a job, but had worked about seven years earlier in a warehouse loading refrigerator products onto trucks.

Michael McRae said about 30 police officers came to his home and searched his son's bedroom after the shooting on Monday night that left three dead and five others wounded.

McRae added that her son became lonely when his mother, Linda, died.

After she passed away, he said that her son "was lost, totally lost."

Exterior view of Anthony McRae's home in Lansing, Michigan (Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

"He didn't care anymore. And he wouldn't talk to me or anyone," McRae said, adding that his son would stay in his room for hours and hours playing video games.

"He would only come out to go to the kitchen or the bathroom, and then he would go back inside," he said of the older McRae.

Michael McRae said he was very worried about his son, but when he suggested that he go see a doctor, his son refused.

"He would get mad if I tried to get him help," she said.

"She was trying to help him. She was closing the door. He was staying in her room a lot."

"She didn't want to make trouble, she would be mad at me," she added.

McRae said his son had had a gun several years ago, but the police had taken it from him.

Court documents show the younger McRae pleaded guilty to a firearms possession charge in 2019. The father said he believed his son had obtained another gun, but kept it in his bedroom, denying his father that I had it.

McRae said his son's moods changed quickly and he wouldn't talk to his father when he was angry.

"I don't know what happened for him to get like this," he said.

"He treated me like I was invisible. I would ask him: 'Why are you treating me like this? What have I done?'"

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