Posted on 02/15/2008 10:25:01 AM PST by Cagey
Northern Illinois University police said the gunman in Thursday's campus shootings had stopped taking prescribed medications and had begun acting erratically in the days before he walked into a science lecture and opened fire.
Police said the suspect identified as 27-year-old former student Stephen Kazmierczak killed five students, wounded at least 15 others and then killed himself.
It was reported that a sixth student had died Friday morning, but Coroner Rusty Miller told the media that there was a communication error between his office and the hospital.
About The Shooter
Police have yet to uncover a motive. Kazmierczak was an NIU graduate student in sociology in the spring of 2007, but was not currently enrolled, according to a release on the school's Web site.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the school honored the gunman two years ago for his research on the U.S. prison system, including a study of self-inflicted wounds among prisoners.
"He was an outstanding student. An awarded student," said NIU Police Chief Donald Grady. "Those he had communication with felt he was a very good student and a fairly normal, unstressed person."
Grady said that Kazmierczak was a graduate student in social work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kazmierczak was taking some kind of medication, Grady said, but declined to name the drug or provide other details.
"He had stopped taking medication and become somewhat erratic in the last couple of weeks," Grady said.
Kazmierczak had four weapons with him when he entered the lecture hall, according to Kevin Cronin of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives: a Remington 12-gauge shotgun, a Glock 9mm pistol, Sig Sauer pistol and High Point 380 pistol.
Cronin said that the shotgun and Glock were purchased legally at a gun shop in Champaign, Ill., on Feb. 9. Traces were being conducted on the other two guns.
University President John G. Peters said officials believe the shooter had no criminal record and had not been in contact with police prior to the shooting.
Scene Of The Shooting
Kazmierczak opened fire around 3 p.m. in an oceanography class inside an auditorium in Cole Hall. Police said the shooter did not fire all the ammunition he possessed.
Kazmierczak shot himself on the stage after a rampage that lasted just a few minutes and sent terrified students screaming, crying and running for the doors.
Journalism major Desiree Smith was at the back of the hall when the gunman opened fire. She said she dropped to the floor and kept telling herself, "Oh God, he's going to shoot me. Oh God, I'm dead."
Authorities don't know if the gunman targeted specific people or just shot at random.
Police said when the shooting was reported, officers were at the scene in "less than two minutes."
Victims Mourned
The students killed have been identified as: Daniel Parmenter, 20, of Westchester, Ill.; Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero, Ill.; Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville, Ill.; Gayle Dubowski, 20, of Carol Stream, Ill.; and Julianna Gehant, 32, of Meridan, Ill.
All of those shot were students, Peters said, including a graduate teaching assistant who was the class instructor and who was not killed.
More than 100 students cried and hugged as they held a candlelight vigil outside a fraternity house to mourn a sophomore who was among those killed.
"Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and their families," Peters said Thursday night. "We thank the community for the outpouring of sympathy during this terrible time of tragedy."
Peters urged students to remain calm and seek counseling.
"We've asked them to reach out to each other during this difficult time, and they've done that," Peters said. "And I'm proud of them."
The NIU Department of Public Safety is asking that any individuals who witnessed the Feb. 14 shooting, or who believe they have any information related to the shooting, call the University Tip Line at 815-753-TIPS. Police will return calls as soon as possible.
"I'm so please as we've seen our students and staff come together and deal with this tragedy," he said.
The NIU campus in DeKalb, about 60 miles west of Chicago, is closed Friday
Wow, this really has me wanting to know what the medication was that would cause this change in behaviour?
Mark Fuhrman was right! He was on Gibson’s show yesterday saying it would turn it out that the shooter was on some kind of meds.
NOW do you see why I told you to stay on your meds????
I don’t know what good those meds do. I had a business partner freak out on Prozac.
It could be any of about 3 dozen psychotropic meds from Abilify to Zyprexa and all those in between.
For every bad story you see or hear about, there’s about 1000 cases of lives made better. Before these meds existed, things were far worse for these folks.
Because guns make people “feel” unsafe.
My daughter was just diagnosed with a seizure disorder and has been put on seizure medication.
After being on seizure medication and seizure free, the doctors try to get you off the medication. If my daughter is seizure free for 2 years, then we’ll try to get her off the medication.
Going on and off seizure can be very tricky. Going off seizure medication can bring on seizures, and some seizures are very psychological in nature.
The first seizure medication my daughter went on made her go crazy. We had to switch her off of it, but it took 3 months to switch her off of it. Now, she is doing great on the medication.
Of course, there are all the drugs for mental illness and even ritalin that maybe going off of them would make someone have a mental breakdown.
Maybe he just wasn’t “himself” when off the meds. Which is another way of saying when he truly was “himself” he should have been locked up. Ritalin? Probably anti-depressants.
There are lots of anti-depressant drugs that alter a persons behavior , especially if they quit taking them suddenly. I keep saying, and I hope someone is listening, that when a person has a problem and they go to a Doctor with the problem, the Doctor prescribes a pill, and the patient has no idea about the side effects of the medicine.
My father-in-law was in his late 80s when the doctor gave him Zoloft, he tripped out hallucinating.. It was bizarre to say the least.
I just see how much good psych meds do on a daily basis....I also know that the biggest problem faced is continued compliance after D/C.
You start feeling better, more normal....you don’t need the meds anymore....
WRONG!!!
I know a guy that was on Prozac, and during that period, he talked constantly of killing himself.
Gun free zone alert
Just remember, if you’re in a “gun free zone,” you’re in reality in a nut-job magnet venue. Every nut-job out there knows they can create a lot of mayhem in such a safe and secure place. Safe and secure for them that is.
On the other hand, stupid people like me enjoy the fact that three of my neighbors are gun owners, one with a CHL. Crime rate in my gun owning, CHL having crazy Texas town of Plano Texas? 1/4 the US national average and lower than any major city tht has highly restrictive laws on gun ownership like NY. http://plano.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm
But to the politicians, the deans of these schools, the school boards, and Congressmen passing such great legislation as “gun free zones,” don’t mind the details. What’s important is that you make grandiose speeches that make reference the “the children” often.
Just ask yourself this, where is it safer, where your 61 year old neighbor shoots the robbers, or in a “gun free zone?” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/17/national/main3517564.shtml?source=mostpop_story
Someone once said, if you outlaw or restrict guns only the bad guys end up having them. But that statement is silly, right?
Carolyn
I am betting on Prozac or the generic.
AWD for my Acadia. It is very comfortable and nice to drive.
Fasten your seat belts folks, the anti-gunners are once again exploiting a campus tragedy to further their confiscatory agenda.
Statement dated Friday 15 Feb 08 by Carolyn McCarthy D-NY
“Yesterday, tragedy again struck our schools. Former NIU student Steven Kazmierczak opened fire in a classroom killing seven and wounding fifteen. His motives are still unknown.
How many more school shootings will this country have to witness before we change our view on firearms? With each day we do nothing, more lives are put at risk from needless gun violence.
Last month, President Bush signed the NICS Improvement Act into law. While this is a good step, we must do more to stop the increasing acts of gun violence at our nation’s colleges and universities.
My heart goes out to the victims and their families in their time of need. Let us join together to prevent other families from experiencing this type of terrible tragedy.”
Statement dated Friday 15 Feb 08 by Barack Obama D-IL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Michael Ortiz, 202 228 5566
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement on the shooting at Northern Illinois University:
“Yesterday, twenty-two men and women were shot, and six were killed, when a madman walked into a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and opened fire.
“We hear about heartbreaking, mindless acts of violence like this day after day, week after week. They come in and out of the headlines, and after awhile, most of the world goes on. But for all the loved ones who are left behind, the pain and the sorrow remain for a very, very long time. Today we offer them our prayers, but we must also offer them our determination to do whatever it takes to eradicate this violence from our streets and our schools; from our neighborhoods and our cities. That is our duty as Americans, and that is our solemn obligation as mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, neighbors and friends.
“Michelle and I offer our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the victims. They will be in our prayers.”
ed. “eradicate this violence” = outlaw semiautomatic weapons
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