MURDER AT NIU BY SHOOTER IN CLASS ROOM

AT 3:00 PM FEBRUARY 14th A YOUNG MAN STEPPED INTO A LARGE CLASSROOM ON NIU CAMPUS AND SHOT INTO A CROWD OF POSSIBLY 120 PEOPLE.

22 CASUALTIES -- 5 DEAD

As of last word there were 22 casualties. Five dead, one being the shooter. The shooter was a graduate student of NIU in the spring of '07, but not a student since. He was believed to have been a student elsewhere.

My husband and I drive the Huskie buses for NIU, taking students to and from classes. They're all young enough to be our children. Our shift had eneded at 2pm. We were just up the road, on Annie Glidden, maybe about a mile or two, shopping when this happened. We were loading groceries into our vehicle. I noticed that the wind had calmed down some. In the distant background we could hear sirens. That's not so unusual, so we thought nothing of it. We even passed a county police unit on Rt 23, on our way home.

We got home, still ignorant of what had just transpired in an area where we've pulled our buses up, let off students who go to classes in this area. Cole Hall, where the shooting occurred is maybe a two minute walk from where we drop off.

I had turned on the TV a little early for news, and the local stations were there panning the area from above, so it didn't look familiar. But slowly, I became aware of the fact that what I was looking at was NIU campus in DeKalb, showing the bus turnaround near Revis Hall and all the other halls, and Cole Hall is just behind Revis.

My husband and I were in shock, watching this as the news unfolded. First only eight people were shot, then it went up to 17, and then 18, and during a news confrence Dr. Peters, president of NIU, said there were 22 casualties, and five were dead, including the gunman.

Cole Hall holds two large class room, and can hold over 100 people. Students had gathered for their class at 3pm. One girl said she had almost not come to class because she wasn't feeling good, but because they would get credit, she and her friend came, but instead of sitting in the front, like they always do, they sat in the back.

About a hundred people had gathered when the lone gunman burst through a door, up on stage, behind the podium. The teacher stared. Everyone stared. One student said that he thought that maybe it was a play, you don't see someone walking out on stage with a shot gun. One described this and the aftermath as surreal.

Dressed in a black coat, dark pants and some sort of cap, he was armed with a shot gun, and two pistols--one being a Glock. There were reports from witnesses that after shooting, he had begun reloading while people wer crawling or duck-walking out, scrambling to get out. There was such a rush to get out, some people were injured in this way.

For now, as I write this at 3am on Friday morning, the 15th, I'm still trying to come to terms with this. It's wierd how things hit you. All the while it was on the local stations--they never left the story, except for a break--it didn't hit me. Then, when Charles Gibson came on national news and told about it in the opening, I just began to cry. I'm not sure, I guess seeing it, and knowing that everyone knows that this happened so close to where I live and work, it just didn't seem real until then.

DeKalb used to be the quiet place where nothing happened. As my husband, Dennis, put it its just a town in the middle of a corn field. Not a whole lot happened here. Not any more.

Back in December, someone had scrawled on the bathroom wall in one of the residences, causing the campus to go into shut-down mode, and all the news media arrived then. No one is saying that this incident had anything to do with that one. Many speculated that that incident had been a hoax, that it was someone wanting out of taking an exam.

Possibly. Perhaps we'll never know, since that person has since melted into the woodwork. Maybe the shooter took that message into consideration, since he came within an area mentioned on that wall.

We became complacent. We, as people, are trusting. It's too bad that we have to be on guard. But one would have thought that since 911, we would be more vigilant. How could someone walk around campus with a shot gun? The coat which he wore is not described. Possibly it was long enough to hide the gun.

I don't understand--do any of us?--how someone can be so lost, so angry, and so determined to go shoot into a crowd and then take their own life. One witness said the man had no expression on his face. That was a lost soul. Obviously, he was set to go, but had to take some people with him. There is no reason. You can't make sence of why or what goes through a mind that has gotten on this one-way track, and just can't get off, and it's heading for the train wreck.

As a writer, I used to write horror. I haven't been able to write it, or even read it bacause I felt there was just too much horror in the world--and that was before 911. But the tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde makes me ponder the duality of man's soul and his inner animal, or beast. It hides in all of us. Sure, we all have bad days. Bad things happen to us, maybe at our own hand because we get lazy, or stupid, or complacant, or just make bad choices. Think about it when you get into your car and open up your cell phone and not turn on those lights, and don't pay attention. Think about it. Don't be lax into thinking nothing can happen to you. It can. It does.

But I'm not talking about that mild form of letting the mind go slack. I'm talking about the mind just going into another realm altogether. Anger feeds on anger. We can't just step off it once we're on that train. No matter the cause, anger doesn't win. Shooting people and then pointing the gun at yourself doesn't get you anything except to put people in terror and horror and get on national news. If you want attention do something good. Do something wonderful! If life is that bad, find treatment. Talk to someone. A friend. A stranger. There are people out there to help you. All it takes is a phone call. Humans have a mind, they should be able to think through their passions, but for some reason passion is too strong. Emotions have always won out over using logic. We are not a perfect being, no matter who you pray to, what religion you claim, or who you vote for. You are the only one that can help you. God gave us talents, gave us a mind, and it is too bad that people get lost in all the hoopla--whatever it is, if you follow a religion that tells you you must kill those that don't agree with you--that is not a religion it is a falsehood. If you think you can't live any more, or you have a big gripe, ask for help. NOW!