Six confirmed dead in shooting at NIU

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/



DeKALB

A man dressed in black opened fire with a shotgun from a stage of a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University on Thursday, killing himself and five others, University President John Peters said.


At least 17 people have been shot and police have confirmed that the shooter is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Peters described the incident as a “rapid fire” shooting. He said witnesses “say someone dressed in black came out from behind a screen in front of the classroom and opened fire with a shotgun.”

“The assailant began firing into the assembled class from the stage,” Peters said. “Early reports indicate that he had a shotgun and two handguns.”

[DesertRat]

1. I have no words.

I am the parent of 2 college students. I can't imagine the family's grief right now. On Valentine's day of all days.
:cry:

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. "On Valentine's Day of all days"

We have a tradition of that here in Chicago...

[BadgerLaw2010]

8. Was just about to say that. n/t

[TahitiNut]

10. 79 years ago today - 7 killed at 2122 N. Clark Street

I visited that address on Valentine's Day 1973 when I was on a business trip to Chicago. I thought it was the right thing to do. :dunce:

[ProfessorGAC]

48. Been There Too

i was there before they tore the garage down. Was with my grandfather, my dad, and his Uncle Alberto. I was probably only about 5.
The Professor

[Brigid]

2. OK, so . . .

how are the gun nuts going to talk their way around this one, I wonder? :banghead:

[The Straight Story]

4. Lots of people own guns and don't do this - so why did he?

Mental health care here sucks compared to other countries.

[tekisui]

5. Same as they always do, "If everyone had a gun, someone could have stopped it."

Wait for it....

[Mugu]

16. The antigun people run Illinois.

There is no provision of any kind to carry a weapon and you must have a state issued ID that must be renewed every 5 years (I believe it's 5) at your expense to even possess a single bullet.

Regards, Mugu

[Junkdrawer]

7. The Senate may wait a week or two before they give the gunners their National Park Law...

Or, then again, they may pass it right away anyway.

When the NRA says "Jump", lawmakers say "How High?"

[TahitiNut]

11. "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."

So ... if this shooter was already breaking laws by carrying firearms on campus, how does passing more laws stop it?

It seems we might be well-advised to pay more attention to mental health care.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

17. How about enforcing the existing laws? If someone steals something

do we just say, well guess we can't stop people from stealing, so he must be sick or something. Why do we just throw our hands up and act like there is nothing we can do; other laws are enforced why not gun laws?

[TahitiNut]

22. Well, that's a novel idea. (Not.)

Has anyone EVER noticed that legislatures pass laws WITHOUT funding their enforcement?? Has anyone ever noticed that "We the People" seem to LOVE the idea of passing laws and HATE the idea of paying for their enforcement? Has anyone noticed that we have the highest incarceration rate in the world?

Build more prisons. Hire more police. Pay for it. (In more ways than one.)

Any other grand ideas? :eyes:

[Bandit]

44. I seem to find an inconsistency in your post

You say we don't enforce the laws and then you turn around and say we have the highest incarceration rate on earth. :crazy:

[TahitiNut]

47. Inconsistency? Nonsense.

First of all, it was the post to which I responded that implied the existing laws weren't being enforced. To WHATEVER extent those laws are not being enforced, I'm not surprised. It'd be difficult to live as a reasonable sane adult and not know that we have far more laws (and "law breakers") than our police can reasonably enforce with the degree of citizen cooperation in that enforcement that exists. How insensate would someone have to be to not know that there are millions of illegal aliens in the U.S.? It seems unnecessary to again cite immigration laws as just one area where enforcement falls far short of ensuring anything approaching compliance. Even traffic laws are routinely ignored. That does NOT necessarily mean NO enforcement, it means less than full enforcement and uneven enforcement. Even to the degree the laws are enforced, it's enough to make us the nation with the most of its own citizens in prison.

[StClone]

13. They never take responsibility

They will always blame it on a lone nut with a gun not the fact that anyone could be a nut under circumstance and availability makes the death count climb. It will take years and years and hundreds of thousands of unimaginable carnage and still "the one nut with a gun" will be seen as the culprit.

[spoony]

33. "one nut with a gun" WAS the culprit

Yep, just checked and my gun didn't escape to do this and I was home all day soooo, there's really nothing to "take responsibility" for.

[StClone]

49. Thay can ban cell phones

At the risk of causing atraffic accident but not guns and the 1st Amendment Right is there. Gun nuts is a bad term...insane is more like it.

[spoony]

51. Except that the 1st doesn't mention cell phones.

The 2nd is entirely about guns. Aside from that, that really wasn't what I was talking about anyway. My point is that I'm not responsible for this and neither is any other gun owner except one "nut with a gun." Not a gun-nut. A nut who bought guns for the sole purpose of murdering people. A true nut. The kind this country does not care to deal with aside from lip service.

[countryjake]

19. That is a mighty insensitive question...shotguns are bad now, too?

I came into this post because seemslikeadream has a daughter at NIU and was directly affected by this tragedy. But some choose to turn this into a discussion of gun control?

Realistically, any group who wishes to collect the shotguns from our American population must surely have a fascist state in mind. Take your grabbing to the forum set aside for such arguments, please. A baseball bat is deadly in the hands of someone who is mentally unbalanced, which is most likely the case when someone decides to kill lots of people.

This is a sad day for students and parents all over our country because of today's events.

[seemslikeadream]

20. Thank you

:hug:

It's been a devastating day

[countryjake]

24. The least I could do...

I could sense your fear and immense worry in your other topic from this afternoon. I feel so bad for those parents now who have learned such devastating news, it is simply a crushing blow.

(you had me going multi-media earlier, trying to find any information at all on this shooting, it was amazing how little attention the MSM paid to this tragedy and really makes me wonder.)


All my sympathies to your daughter and her classmates

and a big :hug: for you!

[Mugu]

25. I wish that the media would refrain from mention of the shooter's name.

Cover the shooting and the victims, but no words for the perpetrator other than a general physical description. Deprive the jerk of notoriety, that's what he wants most.

Regards, Mugu

Edit: Spelling

[seemslikeadream]

26. HE'S DEAD WHAT HE WANTS DOESN'T MATTER

[Mugu]

27. Of course it matters.

The Columbine shooter's (I won't even speak their names) motivation was the fame that they knew they would achieve because of their awful behavior. Even in death their names are known all over the planet.

Regards, Mugu

[seemslikeadream]

28. BUT HE IS NOT AWARE OF IT

HE FEELS NOTHING

[Mugu]

30. Worldwide fame even for bad behavior is a great motivator for some.

Statements by the Columbine killers prove it. I don't understand why you're yelling at me. This tragedy occurred just a few miles from my home, in a building that I have attended lectures in, at a university that I have two degrees from, on a campus that I worked at for several years. My only motivation is to stop these twisted people.

OK you've yelled at me about my solution, what's yours?

Regards, Mugu

Edit: My ladyfriend's kids are enrolled at NIU and I know numerous other young people that currently attend classes there. My concern for their well being is real even if for some reason you chose to not believe it.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

32. Copy cats will though

:(

:hug:

[aikoaiko]

41. And how will anti--gun nuts explain the lack of success of gun-free zones.

This is a terrible tragedy and I'm sure we will soon hear about the shooter's mental issues. Yes, mental health needs to be taken more seriously.


As a college professor who has a license to carry a concealed weapon to many places in my state, I still baffles me why I can't carry on the job. The good news is that GA legislatures are working to change that.

[zanne]

43. They go to this website for their "talking points". Check it out.

http://www.guncite.com/

It lists all the topics we've been talking about and how to argue against gun control advocates. Have you ever wondered why all the gun toters sound alike and reply in unison to any reasoned statement made by gun control advocates? Well, here is one of many pro-gun sites to answer that question.

[Kajsa]

6. It's awful!

My condolences to the family and friends of
the victims.

:(

[Cabcere]

9. That is so sad.

:( Just terrible. :cry:

[MadMaddie]

12. Another tragedy 22 shot 5 dead....

These shooters never just take themselves out.

Condolences to the families another senseless loss.

[BlueManDude]

14. If everyone had a gun no one would die.

[aquart]

18. Except for those caught in the crossfire.

And, of course, the ones you actually aim at.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

15. There is something very wrong,...with this country.

:cry:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

21. No words to express my dismay...

:cry:

My heartfelt empathy to all those affected.

[Breeze54]

23. I'm so glad my son decided NOT to go there this year!

What a horrible thing to happen!!! :cry:

That just sucks. :(

Thanks for the update.

[KharmaTrain]

29. Seems Like The National Media Is Downplaying This...

This afternoon the Chicago TV stations were wall-to-wall, but I didn't see much about it on the cable...not like their non-stop coverage of other shootings. And I'm glad. This was a very sad day and still a lot of questions remain to be answered...most important: why???

Three of us here are NIU grads...we're still in shock here.

[malaise]

34. CNN has decent coverage this morning

BBC has more coverage than GEM$NBC

[KharmaTrain]

35. This Is Just Very Freaky For Me...

I had classes in that same building 30some years ago...and I was just through the area the other day...I'm still stunned.

This is one of the most quiet/boring campus towns in the country...more than half the campus goes home to Chicago on the weekend and many parents prefered to send their kids there than the U of I or another state school. Usually the biggest news story is the Northern Star's "Police Beat" where someone's flowerpots were knocked over the night before.

There's still no word on who the shooter was or the possible motive, but our speculation here is good love gone bad...and someone was determined to go out in a blaze of glory.

Actually I'm glad this story isn't getting the wall-to-wall coverage other shootings have...IMHO, it just opens the door to the next glory seeker who wants to "send a message" with a rifle on a college campus.

[malaise]

36. Wow!

That must stun you.

Who knows why he did it? Guess we'll hear later. This culture of going out on a blaze of glory is beyond troubling.

Six more people still in critical condition.

[DaveJ]

31. They took his guns from his cold dead hands...

I'm sorry 2nd Amendment folks, but guns have no practical place in the world. In the past I've had little opinion about gun control, but after these incidents, it's obvious that guns are made to do one thing only. This was a rapid fire incident and armed students would have been able to do little to prevent it.

If you think need to have guns, maybe we can allow a few states to have them, but I don't want them anywhere near me anymore.

BTW, I'm not trying to start a flame war. It's just that this happens all the time. A friend's cousin, her b/f, and her unborn child was shot to death a couple days ago by her ex, and it barely made it into the paper. Maybe if they were white blondes it would have. It just goes to show the media is not properly covering the problem.

[MiniMe]

37. I'm sorry for your loss djohnson

Hugs to you.

[theHandpuppet]

40. My condolences, djohnson

Honestly, what the hell is wrong in this society? Why are we so damned violent? What is wrong with us?

And you're right about the selective concern of the media. If this was some young, attractive blonde you'd have sensationaliist mouthpieces like Nancy Grace bleating on and on about it 24/7. But if you're poor, a person of color, old, perhaps unattractive, or just a 14 year old kid murdered for wearing a dress, well hey, shit happens.

[Brigid]

46. My condolences, too, djohnson.

:hug: Another senseless gun crime. I say let's stop pretending that the guns themselves are not the problem. In a society as prome to violence as this one is, they are the problem, at least to the extent that those who have a history of violence and/or mental instability can still get their hands on them much too easily. Responsible gun owners should have no trouble understanding this.

I do not have any answers. I do not know why we are such a violence-prone society. That question has had psychologists and sociologist scratching their heads for decades. All I know is, there have been 4 campus shootings in the space of a week, and unless we can get together to work out a way to keep guns out of the hands of criminals while preserving the rights of responsible gun owners, these tragedies will continue to occur. But I don't believe that having everyone in the country walking around armed to the teeth is the answer.

[MiniMe]

38. Just updated, 7 now confirmed dead

Damnit

[theHandpuppet]

39. Aside from the gun debate, I have a question

What the hell is the psychology behind the types of people who commit these kinds of crimes? What in the world is going through their mind? They are pissed and/or depressed, so their solution is to wipe out a bunch of people they don't even know before blowing out their own brains? Why take it out on a bunch of innocent people?

[aikoaiko]

42. I read one article that suggested two reasons: bullying and rejection by girls/women

I can't stay to explain all that, but before someone accuses me of blaming the victims, I am not. I am only suggesting those incidents that may have had a pivotal impact on the shooters.

[genie_weenie]

45. Jared Diamond mentions the syndrome in his book, Guns, Germs and Steel

I don't have the book in front of me to quote exactly, but to paraphrase in Mayalasia when men are kept from having access to wives, due to others who have multiple wives, the men go on a killing spree in order to affirm their status and make other members of society aware of them. The difference is going a killing spree with a war club usually means 1-3 hurt or killed before the killer is stopped.

So, my exposition would be it's a statement. The killer is telling the world he matters.

[Mountainman]

50. To become infamous or famous what ever you want to call it.