Spring Break
Gunman opens fire in lecture hall at Northern Illinois University
Jason Meisner, Jeremy Gorner, and Tina Shah-Chicago Tribune(MCT)
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: News
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As of 9:30 p.m. Feb. 14, NIU Police Chief Donald Grady said five victims had died.
At least 17 gunshot victims were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb, according to spokeswoman Theresa Komitis.
At a news conference Thursday evening, NIU President John G. Peters said the gunman fatally shot himself, but he could not confirm anything about him or a possible motive. He said he had "no reason to believe" it was related to threats found on a bathroom wall on campus in December. The threats made reference to the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech.
The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. during a geology class in Cole Hall, in a large lecture classroom, authorities said.
"The shooter came from the front of the classroom where the instructor was, coming from behind a black curtain," said Joe Grush, of the NIU provost office.
The shooter was wielding a shotgun and handgun, said Special Agent Thomas Ahern of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF agents were assisting local authorities at the scene, Ahern said.
"We will be urgently tracing the firearms and learning the history of the weapons," Ahern said. He said agents will run the weapons through a national tracing center to "learn where they came from and how the shooter came to possess them."
Grady said at the news conference that the shooting "started and ended in a matter of seconds."
He said the gunman was not believed to be an NIU student, but "he may be a student elsewhere."
The campus will be closed at least through Friday, according to a statement posted on the university's web site. "Students can go to any residence hall for counseling," the statement read.
Jillian Martinez, a freshman, said she was in the auditorium in Cole Hall when the gunman entered through a door to the right of the lectern and opened fire about 3 p.m.
"He just started shooting at all the kids," she said. "He just started shooting at people, and I ran out of there as fast as I could. I ran all the way to the student center; when I got there I could still hear shooting (from the classroom)."
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