Shooting shocks NIU
Patrick Childs
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: World
"I couldn't imagine this ever happening at my school," said Guilford sophomore Chet Levine after he heard about the Northern Illinois University shooting on Feb. 14.
But for Northern Illinois students, it did happen.
"It is probably the weirdest feeling in the world," a Northern Illinois sophomore Laura Griffith said in an e-mail interview. "It was all so surreal to me because I could not get it through my head that this was my school."
Steve Kazmierzak, 27, fired a shotgun, killing five students and injuring16. Kazmierzak then killed himself.
Kazmierzak, an NIU alum, was apparently a likable person. No one has admitted to having any previous knowledge of the shooting, and police arrived within 90 seconds of the shooting's start. With this information come questions of how the tragedy could have been prevented.
"I don't know if (the shooting) could have been prevented," said Northern Illinois student Erin Dunbar in an e-mail interview. "I know that the campus police acted quickly." Dunbar knew Dan Parmenter, a victim of the shooting, who later died.
School shootings aren't rare occurrences these days. Less than a year ago, one gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 students at Virginia Tech. In the past 10 years there have been shootings at two elementary schools, five middle schools, 13 high schools, seven colleges and even one Amish school.
In light of another school shooting, people are thinking of solutions.
Steve Moore, a writer for UC Daily News, believes that people should be prepared and, therefore, able to defend themselves in shootings.
"The solution to the mitigation to these rampages is for the people of this country to finally realize that people who possess legal concealed handgun(s) (and) carry permits should be free to carry them anywhere they go with no restrictions."
If citizens or students were allowed to carry guns at schools, churches, malls, etc., like Moore suggests, Kazmierzak could have been shot before he had a chance to kill innocent people. However, this could have created panic in Cole Hall, where the shooting took place.
But for Northern Illinois students, it did happen.
"It is probably the weirdest feeling in the world," a Northern Illinois sophomore Laura Griffith said in an e-mail interview. "It was all so surreal to me because I could not get it through my head that this was my school."
Steve Kazmierzak, 27, fired a shotgun, killing five students and injuring16. Kazmierzak then killed himself.
Kazmierzak, an NIU alum, was apparently a likable person. No one has admitted to having any previous knowledge of the shooting, and police arrived within 90 seconds of the shooting's start. With this information come questions of how the tragedy could have been prevented.
"I don't know if (the shooting) could have been prevented," said Northern Illinois student Erin Dunbar in an e-mail interview. "I know that the campus police acted quickly." Dunbar knew Dan Parmenter, a victim of the shooting, who later died.
School shootings aren't rare occurrences these days. Less than a year ago, one gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 students at Virginia Tech. In the past 10 years there have been shootings at two elementary schools, five middle schools, 13 high schools, seven colleges and even one Amish school.
In light of another school shooting, people are thinking of solutions.
Steve Moore, a writer for UC Daily News, believes that people should be prepared and, therefore, able to defend themselves in shootings.
"The solution to the mitigation to these rampages is for the people of this country to finally realize that people who possess legal concealed handgun(s) (and) carry permits should be free to carry them anywhere they go with no restrictions."
If citizens or students were allowed to carry guns at schools, churches, malls, etc., like Moore suggests, Kazmierzak could have been shot before he had a chance to kill innocent people. However, this could have created panic in Cole Hall, where the shooting took place.
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