What happens now after the MSU shooting tragedy?

A mass shooting at Michigan State University injured five students and killed three Monday night. The gunman later shot and killed himself, and has now been identified by authorities as a 43-year-old man with no apparent affiliation to the school.

In response to the shooting, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tweeted, “This is a uniquely American problem. Too many of us scan rooms for exits when we enter them. We should not, we cannot, accept living like this.”

What should we make of this shooting, how should we process it and what is the reaction from lawmakers?

Listen: What will Michigan lawmakers do after the MSU mass shooting?

Guests  

Emily Lawler is a state politics and government editor for the Detroit Free Press and Michigan State University graduate. She says many students are afraid of active shooter situations, as they’ve had to prepare and bear witness to such events growing up.

“Your heart just goes out to people who keep encountering this situation or are living in fear — a very reasonable fear — of encountering an active shooter,” Lawler told Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson.

Arash Javanbakht is a psychiatrist who serves as the director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic. He says people need the space to acknowledge and process the shooting, and then try returning to normal routines.

“There is the need for helping people gradually, and as soon as possible, come back to their normal routines of life,” says Javanbakht.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow is a Democrat representing the 8th District, which includes cities in Oakland County. She says lawmakers are determined to pass gun control laws to prevent the number of mass shootings that happen in the state.

“I understand the feeling that so many people have of, ‘Democrats are in charge now, do something.’ And we’re going to — we will,” says McMorrow.