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October 8, 2008 2:29:52 AM CDT

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Stories related to: Northern Illinois University

Stories

19 Stories

  • July 2008

    • Mental Illness Drove NIU Killer to Suicide Tries

      Chicago Tribune  |  Jul 10, 08 2:20 PM CDT

      Mental Illness Drove NIU Killer to Suicide Tries

      (Newser) - The shooter who left 5 dead and 15 injured at Northern Illinois University in February had tried to kill himself four times, an investigative effort by Esquire finds. “I want to die. Life sucks,” Steve Kazmierczak told a nurse after attempting to overdose on prescription medication while in high school in suburban Chicago. More »

      Tags

      suicide  • school shooting  • gunman  • Northern Illinois University  • bipolar disorder  • Steven Kazmierczak  • shooters  • prescription pills  • OCD

  • April 2008

    • NIU Shooter Saw Himself as Sensitive Victim

      Chicago Tribune  |  Apr 21, 08 12:39 PM CDT

      NIU Shooter Saw Himself as Sensitive Victim

      (Newser) - Steven Kazmierczak didn’t leave a note before his deadly February shooting spree at Northern Illinois University, nor clues to his motivations on his computer or cell phone. But in essays for graduate-school applications, the Chicago Tribune reports, the future killer writes extensively about his life and his mental problems—including a stint in a group home. More »

      Tags

      school shooting  • psychology  • mental illness  • Northern Illinois University  • Steven Kazmierczak  • social work

  • March 2008
  • February 2008

    • Students Aren't Signing Up for Text Alert Systems

      Associated Press  |  Feb 28, 08 6:15 PM CST

      Students Aren't Signing Up for Text Alert Systems

      (Newser) - Campus shootings keep making headlines, and schools are increasingly adopting text message alert systems as a response—but students aren't jumping on the bandwagon, the AP reports. Experts chalk up low enrollment rates to students' sense of invincibility, unwillingness to reveal personal information and the cost of receiving texts. "It will take time to earn their trust," said one spokesman. More »

      Tags

      cell phones  • shooting  • Virginia Tech shootings  • Virginia Tech  • Northern Illinois University  • texting  • campus shooting  • campus security  • campus violence

    • Game Nudges NIU Toward Normalcy After Shootings

      Associated Press  |  Feb 27, 08 2:45 AM CST

      Game Nudges NIU Toward Normalcy After Shootings

      (Newser) - Western Michigan needed to beat Northern Illinois last night to keep its hopes alive for the Mid-America Conference championship, but the game itself was much more important for the Huskies and their fans, reports the Associated Press. Western Michigan won the contest 56-49, the first athletic event on the NIU campus since a gunman killed five students and himself on campus earlier this month. More »

      Tags

      NCAA basketball  • NCAA  • gunman  • Northern Illinois University  • campus shooting  • Mid-American Conference

    • Questions Linger as NIU Classes Resume

      Chicago Tribune  |  Feb 25, 08 9:15 AM CST

      Questions Linger as NIU Classes Resume

      (Newser) - As Northern Illinois University resumes classes today, the prevailing feeling is uncertainty. One professor will leave it up to her class whether to stick to the syllabus or talk about the Valentine's Day shooting that left five students dead. Others question whether the semester's grading standards should change and wonder what will become of the scene of the tragedy, reports the Chicago Tribune. More »

      Tags

      school shooting  • professor  • Northern Illinois University  • Steven Kazmierczak  • campus shooting

    • Police Can't Find Motive in NIU Shooting

      Chicago Tribune  |  Feb 20, 08 8:53 AM CST

      Police Can't Find Motive in NIU Shooting

      (Newser) - The student who killed five at Northern Illinois University last week took pains to stump investigators ahead of time, police say. Steven Kazmierczak pulled his computer’s hard drive and his phone’s SIM card; he also revealed little in a package to his former girlfriend. "The one thing I want to know is motive," NIU Police Chief Donald Grady said today. But he couldn't "even begin to assume a motive yet." More »

      Tags

      Northern Illinois University  • Steven Kazmierczak  • campus shooting  • Jessica Baty  • motive

    • Lover Airs NIU Shooter's Letter

      CNN  |  Feb 18, 08 6:48 AM CST

      Lover Airs NIU Shooter's Letter

      (Newser) - The girlfriend of the gunman who murdered five students at Northern Illinois University Thursday talked to him every day last week, including the night before the shooting spree, and detected nothing amiss. "He wasn't erratic. He wasn't delusional. He was Steve; he was normal," Jessica Baty, 28, told CNN. Steven Kazmierczak, who killed himself after the carnage, sent her parting gifts and a love letter that read: "You've done so much for me, and I truly do love you. Don't forget about me!" More »

      Tags

      antidepressant  • Northern Illinois University  • handgun  • Steven Kazmierczak  • murder suicide  • criminal justice  • campus shooting  • Disney World  • Jessica Baty

    • NIU Shooter Delved Into Satanism

      Chicago Sun-Times  |  Feb 17, 08 4:55 AM CST

      NIU Shooter Delved Into Satanism

      (Newser) - The shooter in the NIU carnage that left five students dead last week began to exhibit troubling signs of mental illness as a high school student as he explored satanism and white-power movements, reports AP.  Steven Kazmierczak "started to identify more with hatred-type stuff," said a friend. His behavioral problems became so severe that he required mood-stabilizing drugs, and landed for a year in a psychiatric treatment center where he cut himself and resisted taking medication. More »

      Tags

      school shooting  • Northern Illinois University  • Steven Kazmierczak  • campus violence

    • NIU Shooting Victims Profiled

      Chicago Tribune  |  Feb 16, 08 2:08 PM CST

      NIU Shooting Victims Profiled

      (Newser) - An Army Corps of Engineers vet who wanted to be a first grade teacher. A violinist who knit for fun. A rugby player and frat man who worked for the student newspaper. The Chicago Tribune profiles the five students gunned down in their oceanography class Thursday at North Illinois University, while police are still searching for the killer's motive. All of the victims—four of them women—had Illinois hometowns. More »

      Tags

      Iraq war  • Chicago  • shooting  • school shooting  • Illinois  • Northern Illinois University

    • Police Piece Together Shooter's Trail

      Chicago Tribune  |  Feb 16, 08 10:43 AM CST

      Police Piece Together Shooter's Trail

      (Newser) - Before his shooting rampage at NIU, Steven Kazmierczak spent two days in a motel, taking cold medicine and drinking Red Bull, the Chicago Tribune reports. He left behind no note, only a sealed duffel bag filled with gun ammo. Kazmierczak, who had stopped taking medication for anxiety, also sent his ex-girlfriend packages loaded with gun accessories. He instructed her not to open them until Valentine’s Day. More »

      Tags

      school shooting  • Illinois  • gun  • Northern Illinois University  • Steven Kazmierczak  • sociology  • criminal justice  • scholar  • University of Illinois  • psychiatric treatment center  • DeKalb

    • Same Gun Dealer Supplied NIU and Va. Tech Killers

      Associated Press  |  Feb 16, 08 5:15 AM CST

      Same Gun Dealer Supplied NIU and Va. Tech Killers

      (Newser) - An online gun dealer who helped arm the Virginia Tech shooter also sold accessories to the killer in Thursday's Northern Illinois University rampage, the AP reports. "I'm still blown away by the coincidences," said Eric Thompson, whose company, TGSCOM, is based in Green Bay. He called a federal agency yesterday when he realized he had sold two magazines and a holster to Illinois shooter Stephen Kazmierczak.  More »

      Tags

      Internet  • crime  • school shooting  • gun  • Northern Illinois University

    • Gunman Was Known as 'Gentle, Even,' 'Best in Class'

      Chicago Tribune  |  Feb 15, 08 5:54 PM CST