2008 Woodie Awards
Nation Beat: College tragedy strikes again
Ka Leo News Desk
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News
Just as the memories of the Virginia Tech shootings were beginning to fade in the minds of the public, tragedy strikes again at another campus.
On Feb. 14, at 3:06 p.m., Steven Kazmierczak walked into a Northern Illinois University lecture hall carrying four guns and shot into a crowd of students, leaving five dead and 16 wounded. He then turned the gun on himself, according to police reports.
Authorities said that Kazmierczak concealed a shotgun in a guitar case and handguns under his coat. He entered through the back door of Cole Hall, stepped from behind the lecture screen and fired the shotgun from the stage, onto the students below.
Witnesses said that Kazmierczak shot toward the most densely seated area within the auditorium, with no particular target in mind. Two minutes later, campus security responded to 911 calls and found panicked and bloodied students running away from the building, but by the time they responded, Kazmierczak was already dead.
Kazmierczak, a sociology graduate student at NIU, was described as an academic star who earned good grades with absolutely no visible hint of trouble clouding his life, which further puzzled investigators as to the intent of the crime, according to NIU officials.
According to close friends of Kazmierczak, he was taking anti-depressant medication prior to the incident and had previously sought psychiatric care.
On Feb. 14, at 3:06 p.m., Steven Kazmierczak walked into a Northern Illinois University lecture hall carrying four guns and shot into a crowd of students, leaving five dead and 16 wounded. He then turned the gun on himself, according to police reports.
Authorities said that Kazmierczak concealed a shotgun in a guitar case and handguns under his coat. He entered through the back door of Cole Hall, stepped from behind the lecture screen and fired the shotgun from the stage, onto the students below.
Witnesses said that Kazmierczak shot toward the most densely seated area within the auditorium, with no particular target in mind. Two minutes later, campus security responded to 911 calls and found panicked and bloodied students running away from the building, but by the time they responded, Kazmierczak was already dead.
Kazmierczak, a sociology graduate student at NIU, was described as an academic star who earned good grades with absolutely no visible hint of trouble clouding his life, which further puzzled investigators as to the intent of the crime, according to NIU officials.
According to close friends of Kazmierczak, he was taking anti-depressant medication prior to the incident and had previously sought psychiatric care.
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