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On Monday, February 13, 2022, three people were killed and at least five others were injured after a mass shooter opened fire at Michigan State University.
While police were still trying to locate the suspect, online sleuths keeping up with the age-old tech tradition began to spread misinformation after a Facebook post shared a fake photo of the shooter and "identified" him as "Lynn Dee Walker," declaring his plans to attack the Michigan campus.
The fake photo soon went viral and was viewed by millions of people forcing the person in the picture, who goes by the name R. Cam on Twitter, to deny any connection with the Michigan State University shooting and implored people to report the reposts.
The fictitious post has since been deleted, but not before it was captured by a netizen who used it to debunk false narratives online.
Police have since identified the suspect as a 41-year-old black male who reportedly shot himself at an off-campus location after a brief confrontation with the officers.
Michigan university fake shooter controversy explained
As per multiple reports, on Monday night around 8:18 p.m., a mass shooter entered the Berkey Hall, an academic building on the East Lansing campus, and began shooting before moving into the Michigan State University Union building.
Students at the scene alerted the authorities as soon as the first shots were fired, and the dispatcher narrated the horrific incident as it was being played out on campus to help police locate the active shooter who was still at large at the time.
While police tried to apprehend the suspect, who was still at large, a Facebook post created a fictitious shooter naming him Lynn Dee Walker and posted a picture to spread misinformation.
The fake photo was also distributed on a blog site that erroneously claimed that the dispatch audio identified "Lynn Dee Walker" as the shooter, though there is no evidence to corroborate the veracity of their claims.
As the post went viral, the person in the picture, who goes by the name R.CAM on Twitter, denied being the shooter and asked people to delete the picture. His tweet read:
"I am at my house in western Massachusetts reading with my wife, if you see literally anybody spreading this s**t, please get them to delete it. I don’t ask for much & I have to be subjected to this sort of s**t on your behalf. Help me out here.”
While some blog sites began reporting on the fictitious suspect, Philip Lewis, a senior front-page editor at the Huffington Post, debunked the false narrative on the internet.
Lewis, with some basic research, proved that "Walker" was not the suspect in the Michigan university incident after "Walker" tweeted a picture of himself from his home while the real suspect was still at large on campus. His tweet read:
“Reports of a "Lynn Dee Walker" as the active shooter at Michigan State are INCORRECT. I've added another picture of him, check the timestamp.”
Meanwhile, in a press conference, police released a photo of the actual suspect, whose name is yet to be disclosed, after he was captured on surveillance camera.
Police are yet to reveal the motive behind the attack as they continue to investigate the incident.
