Butler native, student at Michigan State University recounts night of mass shooting

BUTLER, Pa. — Michigan State University attracts students from across western Pennsylvania, and Channel 11 spoke with a Michigan State student from our area about the terrifying shooting on Feb. 13.

Jonah Doerr of Butler is a freshman at Michigan State University where students went back to class Monday, a week after a gunman shot and killed three students and hurt five others on campus.

At the time, Doerr was in his dorm room doing math homework with some friends when one of them got a text that there was a shooting.

“Then we get an email from the school saying we should lock ourselves in our room, barricade, turn the lights off, so we did all of that,” said Doerr.

Doerr said they hunkered down for four hours, listening to police scanners, trying to figure out what was going on.

“We could see police outside, SWAT outside, we could see the police helicopter flying around,” said Doerr.

The shooting happened on the eve of the five year anniversary of the Parkland school massacre. For some students at Michigan State, this is the second time they have experienced a mass shooting.

“We are in a generation now where these kids are living through their second mass shooting and that’s terrifying to me,” said Doerr’s mother, Lori Doerr.

This has rekindled the push for stricter gun laws. Doerr was part of the student-led protest on Monday at the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan. His father, a retired Butler County common pleas court president judge, said changes need to be made.

“Having better red flag laws and better laws to restrict who can have a gun with people with prior convictions,” said Tom Doerr.

With students returning to class, Channel 11 asked Jonah how he feels to be back.

“I feel safe being here. It’s still kind of weird being back on campus but I want to stay here and finish school here all four years,” said Johan.

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