DEKALB, Illinois (Reuters) - A black-clad man fired into a lecture hall packed with students at an Illinois university on Thursday, killing five people and wounding 18 before shooting himself dead, police and college officials said.
The gunman, who police said had a shotgun and two handguns, stepped onto the lecturer's stage near the end of a mid-afternoon geology class at Northern Illinois University and began shooting down the room, sending terrified and bleeding students fleeing, witnesses said. He then shot himself on the same stage.
Police on the 25,000-student college 65 miles west of Chicago said the gunman was a former student but they did not publicly identify him and said they did not know the motive in the latest in a series of shootings at U.S. colleges and high schools.
University President John Peters said there had been a "very brief rapid fire assault that ended with the gunman taking his own life." He said those killed by the gunman were all students -- four women and one man -- and that 4 were in critical condition in hospitals. The instructor teaching the class survived, he said.
"I ducked behind the seats and ran out the door," student Zach Seward told the local Daily Chronicle newspaper.
"As I was running, I just kept waiting for something to hit me in the back. I didn't know where to run, tried to decide where it's safe to be, and there isn't anywhere safe."
FORMER STUDENT
Peters said the gunman was a sociology major who last attended classes as a graduate student in the spring of 2007 and who may have since enrolled at a different college. He said he had no police record or previous contact with police.
One student told local radio that roughly 140 students were in the classroom when the man opened fire. Ambulances swarmed onto the snow-covered campus and classes were canceled for the rest of the day and Thursday.
"Some girl got hit in the eye, a guy got hit in the leg," George Gaynor, a student who was in the hall told the Northern Star, the student newspaper on the campus.
Kristina Balluff, a student, said the gunman was dressed in black pants and had fired randomly from the raised classroom stage.
"I looked at this girl next to me and actually said, 'is this real?' I think the professor ... ducked out of the way."
Mass shootings are not rare in the United States, where gun control is less strict than in many countries and where the gun-ownership lobby is politically influential.
A university in Blacksburg, Virginia, Virginia Tech, became the site of the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history in April last year when a gunman killed 32 people and himself.
Last week, a nursing student shot dead two women and killed herself in front of horrified classmates at a college in Louisiana.
In December, a threat was found scrawled on a wall at Northern Illinois University referring to the Virginia shooting and threatening similar violence, but officials said they had no reason to link that to Wednesday's incident.
(Reporting by Andrew Stern and Michael Conlon; Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
That is horrible, sick, twisted, and wrong. What a nightmare. I don't get it - why can't they just kill themselves, why do they take so many with them?
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
I think this gun violence will stay with america forever until someone does something about
alot of people in america seem to have guns casually and when they go through a difficult time and stress what do they do? shoot
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
^ there use to be a phonebooth around our corner which got assaulted by gunmen everyday. Now they just randomly go assaulting people, they assaulted our takeaways delivery man recently.
Gun crime is all over the world, i dont think its about to stop....
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My tears testify that i have a heart
yet i feel me and shaytan never part
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Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
I was talking to my yankee mate yesterday about this. Apparently it's the fouth shooting of this kind in one month! -
It's really sad. Why do they not have gun checks at uni?? I fear for him, as he's doing a final year in university too. I told him to be careful, because you don't know when these nutcases will strike. So upsetting, you have to be cautious when you should be having fun and studying!
We don't have anything of the sort here. USA needs to tackle this. it's LONG OVERDUE!
May Waheguru do Kirpa on those that have died. and the families that have lost loved ones!
Gur Fateh!
Ėk Gusā Alhu Mėrā
The One Lord, the Lord of the World, is my God Allah.
Dhan Guru Arjan Dev Mahraaj Ji!
Kal Meh Bėḏ Atharbaṇ Hū Nā Kẖuḏā Alhu Bẖa.
In the Dark Age of Kali Yuga, the Atharva Veda became prominent; Allah became the Name of God.
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
format_quote Originally Posted by Ahmedjunior
I think this gun violence will stay with america forever until someone does something about
alot of people in america seem to have guns casually and when they go through a difficult time and stress what do they do? shoot
Why is it easy to get a gun there?
Ėk Gusā Alhu Mėrā
The One Lord, the Lord of the World, is my God Allah.
Dhan Guru Arjan Dev Mahraaj Ji!
Kal Meh Bėḏ Atharbaṇ Hū Nā Kẖuḏā Alhu Bẖa.
In the Dark Age of Kali Yuga, the Atharva Veda became prominent; Allah became the Name of God.
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
Geology bores me too, but not that much. I'm surprised they aren't putting councillors in universities or if they have, they aren't advertising them as much as they should. These people just need someone to talk to and this kind of thing might not happen.
Gun crime is disturbingly frequent here in the U.K, especially in the built up urban areas. If it's not guns, it's knives.
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
I don't like guns, but I can't think it'd be a good idea to ban them. That's not going to help the problem. We as a society need to find the root of the problem and address it before people start shooting one another.
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
What is it with America where people go around(especially into uni's) and kill other people? I just don't get it, you hear ot in the news all the time, it's just so sad
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
format_quote Originally Posted by khadija_007
What is it with America where people go around(especially into uni's) and kill other people? I just don't get it, you hear ot in the news all the time, it's just so sad
What is it with the world that people do this?
"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."
- Bertrand Russell
"He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the
enemy." - George Washington
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
Maybe the US President should decalare a 'War of Guns' and protect the innocent people of America. I'm sure if we look at statistics a lot more people in the USA are being killed by guns then people from Afghanistan.
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
format_quote Originally Posted by AvarAllahNoor
Why is it easy to get a gun there?
For the most part, within the past few years, it has gotten to be somewhat difficult to get a legal firearm . There have been many new laws implemented. The other side of the picture is as the legal firearms becomes more difficult, it has become much easier to obtain illegal and non-traceable ones.
Right now for the average citizen in New York, California, Indiana, Illinois (the states with the strictest gun laws) it is much easier to buy an illegal unregistered machine gun, then to buy a legal hunting rifle.
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
lol 5?! thats soo lil compared to the virginia tech one..its was a chinese dude and he killed himself then too..of course he sent a tape to the cnn ppl and had him wita gun or two and being a fag on tv how embarrasin plus he added the fact that he was lonely and had no friends and all that...
p.s. where i live the dumbass mayor said we can carry guns...for self defense... she is such a smart old lady (sarcastic)
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
As Salaam Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu
Illinois student killer is named
Police have identified a gunman who killed five students when he opened fire at a university near Chicago as former student Stephen Kazmierczak.
Head of police at Northern Illinois University, Don Grady, said Kazmierczak had studied sociology there in 2007.
Chief Grady said it was not known why Kazmierczak - who was armed with three handguns and a shotgun - opened fire in a crowded lecture hall.
Another 15 people were injured before Kazmierczak shot and killed himself.
'Outstanding student'
Kazmierczak was described by the police chief as having been an "outstanding student" and he said there had been nothing to suggest he would commit such an act.
"Actually, there were no red flags. He was an outstanding student, he was an awarded student. He was someone that was revered by the faculty and staff and students alike," Chief Grady said.
"So we had no problems and we've had no indications at all that this would be the type of person that would engage in such activities," he added.
But Chief Grady did say that Kazmierczak, 27, had become erratic in recent weeks after he stopped taking some unspecified medication.
The police chief said it was still unclear how many shots had been fired, but 48 bullet casings had been found as well as six shotgun shells.
He praised the actions of the emergency services at the university, saying that police had been on the scene within minutes.
He said that the swift response had been thanks to excellent planning and teamwork
Counselling
The gunman's tearful father, Robert Kazmierczak, told reporters outside his home in Lakeland, Florida, it was a "very hard time" for him, but was too upset to say more.
The university's president, John Peters, echoed that view saying the police had rehearsed for such an eventuality.
Mr Peters said there had been an outpouring of support from around the United States and the world following the attack.
As the university tries to come to terms with killings, counsellors have been arriving from neighbouring colleges to assist in the grieving process. A candlelit vigil is planned for this evening on the campus.
It had been reported earlier that Kazmierczak had killed six students before committing suicide, but DeKalb County Coroner Rusty Miller has revised that figure, saying that five students, not six, were killed.
Mr Miller said there had been confusion about the status of a patient being treated in a different county.
The shooting comes 10 months after 32 students and staff were shot by a student at Virginia Tech University in one of the worst shootings ever at a US school.
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
lol he looks funny... sorry
well this dude got no exxcuse i think he was tryna be 'known' like all the other ones not knowing that ppl (me) wud actually go sayin : is he seriously freakin kidin me?! he has no excuse just havin some fun, god!!!!
ok im actually done bcuz i cud go down forever sayin stuff...
Re: Gunman kills 5 and then himself at Illinois college
I think this is a horrible thing that happened. I do not understand why people would kill themselves, much less why they would bring others down with them.
We've had some shootings here in Canada too.
I live in Montreal and we had one just over a year ago. Just one girl died (plus the gunman who then shot himself - coward!), but the community was still completely shocked and deeply hurt.
About 15 years ago, one guy shot 14 girls, studying to be engineers, while screaming "I hate feminists". He made all the guys leave the classroom and shot atthe girls. He then went shooting in the halls before turning the gun on himself.
Also, a few years ago, a staff member (adult man) at one of our Montreal universities went around and killed 4 of his collegues. He was paranoid and most likely insane, but it still doesn't excuse what he did. He's still alive.
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she is such a smart old lady (sarcastic)
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