Daily Briefing: 'I don't think I've ever been this scared'
The suspect in a shooting at the Michigan State University campus has been found dead after an hourslong search. Also in the news: What January meant for inflation and highlights from the 95th annual Oscars nominees luncheon.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Happy Valentine's Day! Who says love don't cost a thing?
Here are Tuesday's headlines.
3 killed, 5 injured at Michigan State University shootings
The person suspected in the Michigan State campus shooting that killed three people and injured five others Monday night was found dead miles away amid an hourslong manhunt that forced frightened students to hide in the dark, authorities said. The shooting is the latest in what has become a deadly new year in the U.S. Dozens of people have died in mass shootings so far in 2023.
The 43-year-old man was confronted by police off campus before killing himself with a “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” authorities said. His name was not immediately released, but Michigan State University Interim Deputy Police Chief Chris Rozman said he was not a student or employee and had no affiliation with Michigan State.
Authorities received multiple calls of a shooting around 8:18 p.m. at Berkey Hall on the East Lansing campus. Police then immediately responded to a second shooting in "close proximity" to the Michigan State University Union.
Michigan State University police confirmed three fatalities in addition to the five victims who were transported to the E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. In an update early Tuesday, Rozman said the five victims remain in critical condition.
Ben Finkelstein, a senior, said he was sheltering in place in his room. "I don't think I've ever been this scared," he said. "I've been listening to the police scanner for an hour."
👉 Keep reading USA TODAY's coverage of the shooting.
Syria agrees to open border crossings for quake aid
Despite rare, inspiring rescues, thousands of bodies were being removed from toppled buildings, and experts say the chances of finding survivors are increasingly slim. A week after the quakes hit, many people were still in the streets without shelter. The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 quakes struck nine hours apart in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6. Scores of strong aftershocks added to the damage as more than 6,000 buildings collapsed. The United Nations said Syrian President Bashar Assad has agreed to open two new crossing points from Turkey to the rebel-held northwest to deliver quake aid. Read more
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🛌 Is your mom's nursing home owned by private equity? The Biden administration wants you to know.
🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear the latest after a shooting at Michigan State University. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
🌤 What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
New Zealand declares emergency as Cyclone Gabrielle eases
The New Zealand government has declared a national state of emergency after Cyclone Gabrielle battered the country’s north in what officials described as the nation’s most severe weather event in years. Authorities said a firefighter is missing and another has been rescued with critical injuries after they were caught in a landslide Monday night near the country’s largest city, Auckland. Auckland was swamped two weeks ago by a record-breaking storm that killed four people. Weather conditions eased on Tuesday as the weather system tracked over the ocean southeast from New Zealand. Read more world news from USA TODAY.
WHO confirmed Marburg disease outbreak in Equatorial Guinea: What to know about the viral disease.
Objects shot down by U.S. military 'almost certainly' sent by China to spy
The three objects shot down by U.S. fighter pilots over North America since Friday were “almost certainly” launched by China to spy on the United States, Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Monday. Smith, D-Wash., in an interview with USA TODAY, said that researchers who use balloons typically inform the Federal Aviation Administration before flying them in U.S. airspace. That didn’t happen with the three shot down over the weekend — two over the United States and one over Canada — or the large Chinese surveillance balloon destroyed Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina. Read more
There is “no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity” in connection to the series of unidentified objects, the White House said Monday.
How many spy balloons have been spotted? Questions mount after flying objects shot down.
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Could inflation ease faster than the Fed believes?
U.S. inflation likely slowed again last month in the latest sign that consumer price increases are becoming less of a burden on America’s households. But Tuesday’s report from the government may also suggest that further progress in taming inflation could be slow and “bumpy,” as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has described it. Consumer prices are expected to have risen 6.2% in January from 12 months earlier, down from a 6.5% year-over-year surge in December. It would amount to the seventh straight slowdown. Read more
📷 Photo of the day: New York Fashion Week 2023📷
The February week of fashion runs until Feb. 15 and brings returning designers including Sergio Hudson, Christian Siriano, Proenza Schouler and Brandon Maxwell as well as New York Fashion Week first-timers Kate Barton, Heron Preston and Zimo, all showcasing their Fall/Winter 2023 collections. Here's everything to know about NYFW 2023 and click here for more photos of the runway shows and parties galore.
One more thing
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Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.
Associated Press contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan State shooting, Syria, Turkey, New Zealand, China, inflation: Daily Briefing
