2008 — Feb 14, Violence/Classroom Killings at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL[1]-5-6

—  7  Saulny and Davey, “Gunman Slays 6 at N. Illinois University,” NYT, 2-15-2008.

—  6  CNN. “6 shot dead, including gunman, at Northern Illinois University.” 2-14-2008.

—  6  Daily Chronicle, Dekalb, IL. “3 p.m. update: Gunman identified in NIU…” 2-15-2008.

—  6  WREX 13, Rockford, IL. “Events Sunday to honor second anniversary…” 2-21-2010.

 

Feb 14, CNN:  “Dekalb, Illinois (CNN) — A gunman dressed in black stepped from behind a curtain at the front of a large lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on Thursday and shot 21 people, five of them fatally, then shot and killed himself, said university president John Peters. Four died at the scene, including the shooter, and two later died at the hospital, he said.

 

“At least 22 people, including a graduate student who was teaching an ocean sciences class, were shot, Peters said.

 

“Seventeen victims were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital, its Web site said.  Of those, six were in critical condition and were flown to other hospitals. One fatality, a male, was confirmed — but was not the gunman, the hospital said. Two were admitted, and three others were discharged. The other five were not addressed on the Web site.  Four of the fatalities were female, said Peters.  Most of the injuries are head and chest gunshot wounds, a hospital spokeswoman told CNN.

 

“The gunman started shooting from a stage in the room shortly after 3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) in Cole Hall, officials said.

 

“Police Chief Donald Grady said authorities do not yet know of a motive.  They know the identity of the gunman but have not released his name, Grady added.  The shooter was a graduate student at NIU in the spring of 2007. Currently he was not enrolled there but, Grady said, “He may have been a student elsewhere.”

 

“Kevin McEnery said he was in the classroom when the gunman, dressed in a black shirt, dark pants and black hat, burst in carrying a shotgun. “He just kicked the door open, just started shooting,” said McEnery, who was in the class at the time. “All I really heard was just people screaming, yelling ‘get out.’ … Close to 30 shots were fired.”

 

“There are about 162 registered students in the class that met in the large lecture hall.  A student described the classroom as having four exits – two at the front and two at the rear. “Witnesses say someone dressed in black came out from behind a screen in the front of the classroom and opened fire with a shotgun,” Peters said.

 

“At 3:03 p.m., NIU police responded, and four minutes later, the campus was ordered into “a lockdown situation,” Grady said.  At 3:20, an all-campus alert went out via the campus Web site, e-mail, voice mail, the campus crisis hotline, the news media and various alarm systems, he said….

 

“Grady said the man used three guns: a shotgun, a Glock handgun and a small-caliber handgun, and was still on the stage when he turned one of the guns on himself. The small-caliber handgun has not been recovered, he said.

 

“Grady said it was unlikely authorities could have prevented Thursday’s tragedy. “As much as we do, it’s unlikely that anyone would ever have the ability to stop an incident like this from beginning,” he said….

 

“The 113-year-old school is 65 miles west of downtown Chicago and has an enrollment of more than 25,000. The campus covers 755 acres.” (CNN. “6 shot dead, including gunman, at Northern Illinois University.” 2-14-2008.)

 

Feb 15, NYT (Saulny and Davey): “DeKalb, Ill. — With minutes left in a class in ocean sciences at Northern Illinois University on Thursday afternoon, a tall skinny man dressed all in black stepped out from behind a curtain on the stage of the lecture hall, said nothing, and opened fire with a shotgun, the authorities and witnesses said. The man shot again and again, witnesses said, perhaps 20 times or more. Students in the large lecture hall, stunned and screaming, dropped to the floor. They crouched behind anything they could find, even an overhead projector. They scattered, the blood of victims spattering, some said, on those who escaped injury.

 

“Five people, all of them students, were killed, John G. Peters, the president of Northern Illinois University, said at a news conference late Thursday evening. Sixteen others were wounded, two of them critically, Mr. Peters said. Hospital officials said several of the students had been shot in the head. One of the injured has since been reported to have died.

 

“The gunman, whom the authorities did not identify, also died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mr. Peters said. The gunman, he said, had been a graduate student in sociology at the university in 2007, but was no longer enrolled here. Records suggested that the man, who had more recently attended a different state school, had no previous police contact, the authorities said.

 

“Police officers from the campus, which sits in a snow-covered community 65 miles due west of Chicago, said three weapons had been found with the man’s body: two handguns, including a Glock, and the shotgun. The man’s body was found on the lecture hall stage, the police said. He had ammunition left over….

 

“Northern Illinois University, chartered in 1895, draws 91 percent of its students from inside the state of Illinois.” (Saulny, Susan, and Monica Davey. “Gunman Slays 6 at N. Illinois University,” New York Times, 2-15-2008.)

 

Feb 15, Dekalb Daily Chronicle: “Dekalb — The gunmen in the nation’s fourth-deadliest college campus shooting had a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, which is required for all Illinois residents who buy or possess firearms, official said Friday. Stephen Kazmierczak, 27, purchased the four guns legally from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Champaign, said Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Two of the weapons, a Remington model 870 shotgun and a Glock 9 millimeter pistol, had been picked up by Kazmierczak on Feb. 9 after both the criminal background check and waiting period required by state law. The background check is performed by state police. Ahern said that the database that ATF maintains in Washington showed that Kazmierczak bought the two other guns — Sig Sauer and High Point pistols — from the same shop. Investigators were still determining exactly when that sale took place, Ahern said. Authorities said their investigation revealed Kazmierczak has been acting erratic in recent weeks and had stopped taking medication. In Florida, Polk County sheriff’s officials said they were asked to notify the suspect’s father — Robert Kazmierczak of Lakeland, Fla. — of his son’s death. The elder Kazmierczak briefly came out of his house Friday morning to talk to reporters. “Please leave me alone. … This is a very hard time for me,” he said as he threw his arms up and wept. He declined further comment about his son and then went back inside his house, saying he was diabetic. The motive of the killer, who graduated from NIU in 2006 but was a student there as recently as last year, was still not known.

 

“10:45 a.m. update: Gunman identified in NIU shooting; 6 dead By Shaw Newspapers DeKALB — NIU University Police Chief Donald Grady said the shooter, Steven Kazmierczak, was an outstanding and award-winning student at NIU. “We had no indications at all that this would be the kind of person who would engage in this kind of activity,” Grady said. Police do not know how long Kazmierczak was on campus prior to the shooting but said they found his car parked close to Cole Hall and said they believe the shooter entered from an outside door that led to the lecture hall stage. Grady said the vehicle was still being examined and said he would not discuss what had been found in the car. Grady said investigators have not found a note written by Kazmierczak and do not believe he spoke or shouted any statements as he fired into the crowd of students. Officials with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said there appears to have been no legal reason to prevent Kazmierczak from obtaining firearms. “The shooter was not prohibited from purchasing firearms, and as far as we know, it was a lawful purchase,” said Special Agent Kevin Cronin of the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Grady praised the cooperation of law enforcement officials and rescue workers for their response. He said the shooting took place at 3:06 p.m. and said two officers were on the scene within 30 seconds. “It’s an unfortunate set of circumstances that no one could have predicted, and nothing could have been done to stop it,” Grady said. University officials said a candlelight vigil has been planned for 9 p.m. Friday on the NIU campus and said they are working on several ways for students and the school community to express their grief and sympathy. President John Peters said he has been strengthened by the resolve of parents who are dealing with the tragedy and said grief counselors from many universities are on hand to work with students. “I’m focused on the NIU family … our parents and our students to begin the healing process from this tragic instance,” Peters said. “We will get though this together as a community, I am sure.” Peters said NIU and the campus police department had a solid response plan in place for such a tragedy, but he and Grady both stressed that they do not believe the tragedy could have been prevented. “We were dealing with a disturbed individual who intended harm on this campus,” Peters said. “We did everything we could to ensure safety.”

 

“0:15 a.m. update: NIU University Police Chief Donald Grady said police still have no motive for the tragedy and said they have no knowledge of any personal relationship between Kazmierczak and anyone in the class. Investigators have learned that Kazmierczak purchased two of his four weapons — a 12-gauge Remington shotgun and a 9mm Glock handgun — on Feb. 9 in the Champaign-Urbana area near where he was a student . Grady said Kazmierczak has been taking medication, although he declined to say whether Kazmierczak was being treated for mental illness. “Apparently, he had been taking medication,” Grady said. “He had stopped and had become somewhat erratic in the past few weeks.” Investigators still don’t know how many rounds were fired but Grady said they have also recovered 48 shell casings and 6 shotgun shells. He said Kazmierczak did reload his shotgun. The other weapons were SIG Sauer 9 mm handgun, High-Point CF-380 pistol. There were six fatalities, including the gunman, not seven as reported earlier Friday. The victim who was transported to a DuPage County hospital did not die, officials said. Two other victims remained hospitalized at Kishwaukee Community Hospital, said Sharon Emanuelson, a hospital spokeswoman. One of the victims, a male, was listed in good condition and the other victim, a woman, was listed in fair condition early Friday, Emanuelson said. Their names have not been released.” (Daily Chronicle, Dekalb, IL. “3 p.m. update: Gunman identified in NIU shootings; 6 dead.” 2-15-2008.)

 

Feb 21, 2010, WREX: “Dekalb (WREX)….On February 14, 2008 former student Steve Kazmierczak entered a Cole Hall auditorium and fatally shot five students in a geology class before turning the gun on himself.  Catalina Garcia, Daniel Parmenter, Gayle Dubowski, Julianna Gehant and Ryanne Mace were all killed. A sculpture honoring those students was unveiled earlier this year at Cole Hall.” (WREX 13, Rockford, IL. “Events Sunday to honor second anniversary of NIU campus shooting.” 2-21-2010.)

 

Sources

 

CNN. “6 shot dead, including gunman, at Northern Illinois University.” 2-14-2008. Accessed 1-15-2013: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/14/university.shooting/index.html

 

Daily Chronicle, Dekalb, IL. “3 p.m. update: Gunman identified in NIU shootings; 6 dead.” 2-15-2008. Accessed 1-15-2013: http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2008/02/15/news/latest_news/news01.txt

 

Saulny, Susan, and Monica Davey. “Gunman Slays 6 at N. Illinois University, New York Times, 2-15-2008. Accessed at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us/15shoot.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

 

WREX 13, Rockford, IL. “Events Sunday to honor second anniversary of NIU campus shooting.” 2-21-2010. Accessed 1-15-2013: http://www.wrex.com/category/133168/aboutus

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Five student victims and the gunman suicide.