As a shooter opened fire in two buildings on the Michigan State University campus Monday night, Maggie Cappiello took shelter in a dorm room closet and reached out to their mother.

“I’ve never been in a situation [before] where I texted my mom, ‘I don’t want to die,’” said Cappiello, a 2021 Powell High School graduate and MSU sophomore.

Cappiello is among 11 Big Horn Basin students currently enrolled at MSU on the prestigious Starr Scholarship, a full ride offered to Wyoming and Upper Michigan Peninsula students. 

Another one of those students, Cody High School graduate and MSU freshman Isabelle Radakovich, said the area’s students kept in touch.

“As far as I can tell all the Park County kids were kind of communicating with each other and we were all OK and we were all safe,” Radakovich said. 

Initial reports indicate that no Wyoming students were hurt in Monday’s shooting, which left three students dead and five more in critical condition.

After a several hour manhunt by police, the 43-year-old gunman shot and killed himself. Authorities have said they do not know why the man targeted MSU, as he didn’t have any known motives or connections to the campus.

When the first shots rang out at the university’s Berkey Hall, Cappiello was 5-10 minutes away in their dorm room at East Shaw Hall. Cappiello initially thought it must be a rumor, but then the university released its first shelter in place order and the reality of the situation set in.

“This is moving towards me, towards people I know,” Cappiello said. “It’s around people I know. I need to hide.”

Cappiello ended up staying in their closet from 9 p.m.-12:30 a.m.

Cappiello’s roommate was on campus on the east side. There were rumors of shooting in that area as well, but they turned out to be false. When both students were back safely in the dorm it took time to get some sleep.

Radakovich was eating at her dorm’s dining hall on the south side of campus when she heard the news via a group chat. She was soon sheltering in place in a friend’s dorm room, tracking the developing situation through police scanners and messages from other students. For over three hours as law enforcement searched for the shooter, Radakovich and her friends remained safe, but she said with each noise, “your mind immediately jumps to, ‘Is it the worst thing it could be?’”

Speaking Tuesday morning, Cappiello said that the East Lansing, Michigan, campus “is usually a vibrant place and it’s just not right now.”

Thoughts, prayers and kind words are always appreciated, Cappiello said, but students need to be able to process the situation in their own way. Cappiello added that they believe discussions about gun safety are needed to prevent future tragedies.

“I don’t want anyone to ever have to go through that,” Cappiello said.