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Columbus father of Michigan State student says daughter was on campus during shooting

Brian Hedger's daughter is a freshman at Michigan State and was in Berkey Hall an hour before a gunman opened fire.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus father whose daughter attends Michigan State University said it was a "nerve-racking" night after a shooter killed three students and wounded five others on Monday in East Lansing.

“My wife, Lisa, got the text alert from Michigan State around 8:30p saying shelter in place, everyone on campus, run hide fight. Immediately I was like, we have to get a hold of Liz,” said Brian Hedger, the Columbus Blue Jackets beat writer at the Columbus Dispatch.

His daughter is a freshman at Michigan State and was on-campus Monday night when shots were fired.

"She said it was at Berkey Hall. She was like 'I was just there less than an hour ago'," Hedger said.

Liz went to her room, locked the door and followed communication from the university.

Students at Ohio State were following along, which reminded some of the 2016 knife attack.

“Horrible, absolutely horrible. I was with a group of friends last night and one of their parents text them and said look at the news, what is going on?” said second year Ohio State student Emma Berry.

The shooter went through two buildings on campus that are open to the public, including the student union.

"It is extremely difficult to protect public spaces. What happened at Michigan State can happen anywhere," Ohio State's Public Safety Director Monica Moll.

Moll said her heart goes out to Michigan State and says it reminds her of the 2016 attack at Ohio State.

“We have to focus on what we can control, which is our first responders getting to the scene immediately and our community knowing what to do while we are waiting on that response from law enforcement,” Moll said.

Ohio State has made changes since then by adding locks to every door as an added layer of protection.

Hedger said he is relieved his daughter is safe.

“I was really proud of the way she reacted. She was calm during the whole thing, probably more calm than mom and dad were four hours away. We were freaking out a little bit,” Hedger said.

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