Thursday, February 14, 2008

Shootings at Northern Illinois University

One of our neighbors, whom we've know since grade school attends NIU. Fortunatley, he wasn't involved in or near the shooting.
Gunman opens fire at N. Illinois U. hall - Yahoo! News:
"A man dressed in black opened fire with a shotgun and two handguns from a stage of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on Thursday, injuring as many as 18 people, four critically, before he killed himself, the school's president said.

Witnesses in the geology class said 'someone dressed in black came out from behind a screen in front of the classroom and opened fire with a shotgun,' according to school President John Peters.

Peters said he couldn't confirm any fatalities other than the gunman.
University Police Chief Donald Grady said the gunman was not a student at the school. 'It appears he may have been a student somewhere else,' he said, adding that police had no apparent motive.

The university had issued a statement on its Web site about an hour after the 3 p.m. shooting that 'the immediate danger has passed. The gunman is no longer a threat.'

Kishwaukee Community Hospital spokeswoman Theresa Komitas told WLS-TV in Chicago it received 17 victims all with wounds from the shooting or flying debris, including three with serious injuries. One victim was airlifted to another hospital."

I hope those who undertand how people think are working hard to determine the root causes of this type of killing. This seems far more common than when I was in school a few decades ago. It will be sad if our grandchildren need to wear body-armor to feel safe at school.

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