With all the debate going on about the second amendment, one must ask, would this have happened if guns were more difficult to obtain. You can't argue that things like this, although they do happen in Canada, do not happen as often. What do you think, should the second amendment be killed?A gunman armed with a shotgun burst into a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University this afternoon and opened fire, wounding at least 17 people, three critically, before taking his own life, authorities said. 5 People died in this shooting.
The shooter, described by witnesses as a thin white male dressed in black and wearing a stocking cap, entered Cole Hall on the university's campus in DeKalb, Ill., and began shooting at students and a teacher in a science class, witnesses told a local radio station and a student newspaper.
At least 17 people were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital to be treated for injuries, the hospital said on its Web site. It said earlier that four victims with head wounds had arrived.
The hospital said that it had no fatalities among the patients brought there, although one of three patients in critical condition was airlifted to another hospital in Rockford, Ill., about 30 miles away. The hospital said eight of the victims were "stable" and six were in "good condition." It said it did not expect to transfer any other patients.
The university announced late this afternoon that the gunman had killed himself. It said police confirmed "that the shooter is dead by a self-inflicted gunshot."
Agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting local authorities at the scene, the Chicago Tribune reported. A spokesman for the agency, Thomas Ahern, said he did not know if the shooter was a student or what his motive might have been.
The school first reported the incident at 3:20 p.m. Central time, saying there was "a report of a possible gunman on campus" and urging people to "get to a safe area." Authorities confirmed 30 minutes later that a shooting had taken place and promptly canceled classes.
The school later reported that "the immediate danger has passed" and that "the gunman is no longer a threat." It said the campus will be closed tomorrow and that students could go to residence halls for counseling.
Theresa Komitas, a spokeswoman for Kishwaukee Community Hospital said the hospital initially received four patients with head wounds but that there was no immediate information on their condition.
Komitas said her facility is the closest hospital to the shooting and that victims were expected to be sent there first before being transferred elsewhere if necessary.
"We've called all the staff in," she said. Komitas said the hospital would keep the public updated on the number of injured and their conditions via its Web site.
The university, which has a student enrollment of more than 25,000 and is located in DeKalb, about 65 miles west of Chicago, canceled all classes and urged people to stay away from campus. The university's main campus in DeKalb covers 755 acres.
A witness told WBBM radio that the gunman entered a science class through an emergency exit -- shotgun in hand -- and began shooting toward the middle of the lecture hall. The shooter then began firing toward the professor, according to the witness.
Sheila Cosgrove, a student who was in the room when the gunman started shooting, said in an interview on WBBM that he appeared to be aiming at certain people.
"He was quiet. He stood on the stage in the front of the room," said Cosgrove, who described the shooter as a white male about six feet tall. "I saw him holding the gun and it was huge. I thought it was fake and then I realized he was actually shooting at people and I got down. . . . I have blood all over my clothes."
Another student who was in the room, George Gaynor, said the shooter was "a skinny white guy with a stocking cap on," the campus newspaper Northern Star reported on its Web site. He described the scene as terrifying and chaotic. "Some girl got hit in the eye; a guy got hit in the leg," the paper quoted Gaynor as saying outside the hall minutes after the shooting.
In April of last year, a student with a history of mental problems killed 32 people in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech before taking his own life, the worst rampage in U.S. history. A review by a state-appointed panel after the shooting criticized Virginia Tech administrators for failing to take quicker action in shutting down the campus, saying it might have reduced casualties.
Northern Illinois University faced a threat of violence as recently as two months ago. University officials closed the school for a day in early December and rescheduled some final exams after students found two separate threats scrawled on a bathroom wall in a residence hall, according to local news reports at the time.
The messages included racial slurs aimed at black students and references to the Virginia Tech shootings. Several black students were quoted in news stories as saying they felt unsafe on campus, even with an increased police presence.
In a Dec. 11 message to all students, NIU President John G. Peters said the graffiti was considered a "credible threat." He said school officials had ordered a police presence around all final exam sites after the campus reopened.
"Events of the past several days remind all of us that community is more than a word, and that threats against a group are a threat to us all," Peters wrote.
More than 90 percent of students at the university, which was chartered in 1895, are from Illinois. Racial minorities make up 26 percent of the student population.
No comments:
Post a Comment