NIU shooter stopped meds
The man who killed five people at Northern Illinois University, plus himself, and injured more than 20 others, had recently stopped taking medications and had been behaving erratically in the last couple weeks, officials said today.
Also on Friday, a former NIU teaching assistant said that he and Stephan Kazmierczak once taught class in Cole Hall, the scene of the attack.
(Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
(University of Illinois
Kazmierczak helped teach sociology in the Fall of 2005 in Cole Hall, according to a course schedule. Josh Stone, who said he remembers instructing the course with him in the Fall of 2005 and 2006, does not believe the two ever taught in the particular lecture hall where Kazmiecrzak opened fire. But he said that the teaching assistants made a regular practice of leaving and entering the lecture halls through the doors near the stage.
Kazmierczak opened fire on a Geology class Thursday after stepping into the lecture hall from a door leading to the stage.
At a press conference in DeKalb Friday, officials said Kazmierczak, 27, of Champaign, had stopped taking medications and had been acting erratically in recent weeks.
His arsenal included a Remington 12-gauge shotgun model 870, a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a 9mm Sig-Sauer and Hi-Point .380 -caliber pistol. He reloaded the shotgun during the attack, officials said.
It appears that Kazmierczak had purchased the guns legally, at least two of them in a Champaign gunshop Feb. 9.
He bought the weapons from Tony’s Guns and Ammo in Champaign, sources say. The shop is located in a working-class neighborhood on a residential street. A few signs in the front yard say “Tony’s Guns & Ammo.” The shop is in a yellow, fenced-in building behind a home. On the front door is a sticker that says “Guns Save Lives.” Owner Tony Hutchison could not be reached for comment.
Kazmierczak had a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, which is required for all Illinois residents who buy or possess firearms, authorities said.
ATF agent Kevin Cronin said Kazmierczak “was not prohibited in any way from purchasing firearms and as far as we know, [conducted] a lawful purchase.”
An Army veteran who had spoken of spending time in group homes, Kazmierczak was “one individual that obviously had some problems,’’ said NIU police chief Don Grady.
“We have found no notes at this time so we have no idea of what the motive was,’’ said Grady.
The victims were identified as Daniel Parmenter, 20, of Westchester; Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero; Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville; Julianna Gehant, 32, of Meridan; and Gayle Dubowski, 20, of Carol Stream.
Grady declined to elaborate on Kazmierczak’s medications. A source said they may have been anti-depressants.
“He was taking medication, had stopped and he become somewhat erratic in the last two weeks,’’ said Grady.
The shooter was a former Northern Illinois University graduate student — “revered” both by faculty and other students, officials said Friday morning. Interviews with people who knew Kazmierczak at NIU described him as “a fairly normal unstressed person. . . .No red flags,” said Grady.
Kazmierczak studied criminal justice as a graduate student at NIU until last spring’s term — when he moved to Champaign and transferred to the University of Illinois. His father, Robert, lives in Lakeland, Fla. His mother is deceased. He is originally from Elk Grove Village.
In Champaign, police chief R.T. Finney said a search of Kazmierczak’s apartment there uncovered another weapon — “what appeared to be a shotgun.’’ The gun was not loaded, he said.
Grady said investigators at NIU found 48 casings and 6 shot gun shells after the rampage.
The shooter’s white Honda Civic was found in a lot behind the campus library and near Cole Hall. A source told the Sun-Times that the car was locked and the keys were found inside.
Grady said it was unclear how long Kazmierczak was on campus just before the shootings. He was spotted outside the lecture hall before the killing spree, Grady said.
“He carried the shotgun in a guitar case. He had a coat on top of the belt that carried the weapons and the ammunition so nobody would have seen that,’’ said Grady.
Witnesses said the gunman, dressed in black and wearing a stocking cap, emerged from behind a screen on the stage of 200-seat Cole Hall and opened fire just as the class was about to end around 3 p.m. Grady said he kicked the door in to enter.
The U of I said Kazmierczak was a graduate student in the School of Social Work on the Urbana campus. U of I police said they had no record of contact with the suspect. Kazmierczak had an office on campus.
NIU officials defended their security in the wake of the shooting.
NIU president John Peters said the university “had a plan in place for this sort of thing.”
“University police had practiced that plan. They showed that yesterday in the speed and professionalism in that response. [But] we were dealing with a disturbed individual who intended to do harm on this campus. We did everything we could to ensure the safety of this university.”
From Washington, President Bush talked by telephone with Peters and said people will be praying for the families of the victims and for the Northern Illinois University community, offering “blessings of comfort and blessings of strength.’’
Gov. Blagojevich was also on the NIU campus today.
The gunman’s father briefly came out of his Florida home today to talk to reporters.
‘‘Please leave me alone. ... This is a very hard time for me,’’ he said as he threw his arms up and wept. He declined further comment about his son and then went back inside his house, saying he was diabetic.
At Kishwaukee Community Hospital today, officials said they treated 18 people, with two patients remaining. One patient, a woman, who was transferred to another hospital, may lose her eye.
The campus was closed on Friday. Students were urged to call their parents and were offered counseling at any residence hall, according to the school Web site.
The school was closed for one day during final exam week in December after campus police found threats, including racial slurs and references to shootings earlier in the year at Virginia Tech, scrawled on a bathroom wall in a dormitory. Police determined after an investigation that there was no imminent threat and the campus was reopened. Peters said he knew of no connection between that incident and Thursday’s attack.
Contributing: Dave McKinney, Lisa Donovan, Associated Press