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A survivor of the Michigan State University mass shooting recalled Tuesday how the killer didn’t say a word as he shot up her classroom — and how heroic students put their lives on the line to save others.

Claire Papoulias told the “Today” show that it had been a regular evening history class with about 20 students when she suddenly heard “three or four gunshots directly behind my head.”

“I dropped to the floor with all my classmates and someone was yelling that there was a shooter,” she said, with the gunman not saying anything.

“At that moment, I thought I was gonna die. I was so scared.”

Papoulias said gunman Anthony Dwayne McRae, 43, “came through the back and just started attacking people.”

“And I will never forget the screams of my classmates,” she said. “They were like screaming in pain [and] for help.”


  “At that moment, I thought I was gonna die,” Claire Papoulias told the “Today” show Today “At that moment, I thought I was gonna die,” Claire Papoulias told the “Today” show Today

  The student called her mom, who heard some of the shots labeled it her “worst nightmare.” Today The student called her mom, who heard some of the shots labeled it her “worst nightmare.” Today

Despite the deadly danger, some classmates “jumped into action, trying to help everyone,” Papoulias said, including some who raced to close doors and others who broke windows to allow others to escape.

“If it weren’t for my classmates helping everyone, I don’t think that we would have all made it,” she said, recalling how some helped guide others through the window.

“There was a boy in my class and he was waiting outside the window and he was catching people … so that they wouldn’t fall and couldn’t run away,” she said.


  A timeline of the mass shooting at Michigan State University.
 A timeline of the mass shooting at Michigan State University.

  Gunman Anthony Dwayne McRae, 43, “came through the back and just started attacking people,” the surviving student said. AP Gunman Anthony Dwayne McRae, 43, “came through the back and just started attacking people,” the surviving student said. AP

“And I’m so grateful that he was there to help people out,” she said, adding that once she was out, she “just ran for my life.”

During the carnage, she had called her mom, Natalie Papoulias, who “heard about three gunshots and screaming” on Claire’s end.

“It was my worst nightmare,” the mom told “Today,” saying she felt her legs would give way as she rushed to get in her car to race to the campus.

Follow The Post’s coverage of the tragic shooting at Michigan State University

“I mean, I feel like she literally like dodged a bullet,” the relieved mom said.

The student said her boyfriend would usually have arrived at that time to pick her up, but skipped Monday because a friend was sick.

“I think if my boyfriend was there, he would’ve definitely gotten injured,” she said, calling it “a miracle that he was not there.”


  A stretcher is unloaded from an ambulance outside the Michigan State University Student Union following shootings on campus on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. AP A stretcher is unloaded from an ambulance outside the Michigan State University Student Union following shootings on campus on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. AP

Cops earlier Tuesday identified the killer as McRae, who previously served time behind bars after being busted with a loaded weapon.

He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound just over three hours after shooting up two areas of the campus, police said.

Michigan State University community reacts to mass shooting on campus

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A student lays down flowers at a memorial for the victims of the mass shooting at Michigan State University.
A student lays down flowers at a memorial for the victims of the mass shooting at Michigan State University.Photo by Bill Pugliano/New York Post
Students embracing as they honor the victims on campus.Aurora Abraham for the New York Post
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People wearing signs calling for change after the latest mass shooting.
People wearing signs calling for change after the latest mass shooting.Photo by Bill Pugliano/New York Post
Students placed flowers at the Sparty statue at Michigan State University a day after the shooting.
Students placed flowers at the Sparty statue at Michigan State University a day after the shooting.Photo by Bill Pugliano/New York Post
The mass shooting left three people dead and five more injured.
The mass shooting left three people dead and five more injured.Photo by Bill Pugliano/New York Post
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The gunman Anthony Dwayne McRae committed suicided after the deadly rampage on Monday night.
The gunman Anthony Dwayne McRae committed suicided after the deadly rampage on Monday night.Aurora Abraham for the New York Post
A crowd of people stopping at a memorial on campus.
A crowd of people stopping at a memorial on campus.Aurora Abraham for the New York Post
Michigan State University juniors Morgan Wright, left, and Ava Van Vleck embrace as they reflect at the Sparty statue on the MSU campus.
Michigan State University juniors Morgan Wright, left, and Ava Van Vleck embrace as they reflect at the Sparty statue on the MSU campus.Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa USA
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Michigan State University students Olivia Meyers (left) and Paola Garcia (right) look at bouquets left at the base of the Sparty statue at Michigan State University.
Michigan State University students Olivia Meyers (left) and Paola Garcia (right) look at bouquets left at the base of the Sparty statue at Michigan State University.Ryan Garza / USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa USA
A person lit candles amongst flowers left following an active shooting incident at Michigan State University.
A person lit candles amongst flowers left following an active shooting incident at Michigan State University. Ryan Garza / USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa USA
People leave flowers at the base of the Sparty statue following the MSU shooting.
People leave flowers at the base of the Sparty statue following the MSU shooting.Ryan Garza / USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa USA
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A makeshift memorial was made at Clawson City Park during a vigil to honor the MSU shooting victims.
A makeshift memorial was made at Clawson City Park during a vigil to honor the MSU shooting victims. David Rodriguez Munoz / USA TODAY NETWORK/Sipa USA
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MSU Police Interim Deputy Chief Chris Rozman said early Tuesday that authorities have “absolutely no idea what the motive was” and that McRae “had no affiliation to the university.”

All three people killed were students, cops said, without identifying them. The five injured — also students — remained in critical condition Tuesday morning.

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