3 killed, 5 injured in Michigan State University shooting, suspect dead

A gunman opened fire on Monday night at Michigan State University's main campus, killing three people and injuring five, some severely, before he was found dead hours later, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot, police said.

Few official details about the gun violence were immediately available, but Chris Rozman, interim deputy chief of the university police, said shots were fired in two locations - at an academic building called Berkey Hall and the Michigan State University (MSU) Union building.

Police responding to the shooting, which began shortly after 8 p.m. (0100 GMT), found victims at both locations, Rozman told reporters at a televised briefing about three hours later.

Rozman said investigators had no information about the motive. He also said the university was not aware of any threats made to the campus before Monday's bloodshed.

Rozman said three victims were killed and five were taken to hospital, some of them with life-threatening injuries. Two of the dead were at Berkey Hall and the other at the MSU Union.

Rozman said the suspect "was contacted by law enforcement off campus" at some point, adding, "that scene is being investigated as a crime scene."

The gunman was confirmed dead, from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot roughly four hours after the violence began, Rozman said.

"There is no longer a threat to campus. We believe there to be only one suspect in this incident," he said.

Students, faculty and residents in surrounding off-campus neighborhoods of East Lansing, about 90 miles northwest of Detroit, had been told by authorities to "shelter in place" while the manhunt was on.