The 2008 Northern Illinois University Shooting: A Chronicle of Tragedy and Resilience

The 2008 Northern Illinois University (NIU) shooting was a school shooting that took place on Thursday, February 14, 2008, at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, Illinois. The event sent shockwaves through the campus and the wider community, leaving an indelible mark on the university's history.

The Day of the Shooting

On that day, Steven Kazmierczak entered a large auditorium-style lecture hall in Cole Hall (Auditorium 101). An oceanography class was in session with approximately 120 students present.

The Shooter

At the time of the shootings, Kazmierczak was a graduate student in the school of social work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He was a former NIU Sociology graduate student.

Kazmierczak's Attire and Arsenal

Kazmierczak was wearing dark brown boots with laces, jeans, a black T-shirt with the word "Terrorist" imposed over an image of an assault rifle, a coat, a black knit hat, and a black utility belt with two magazine holsters, a holster for a handgun, three handguns (a 9mm Glock 19, a .380 ACP SIG Sauer P232, and a .380 ACP Hi-Point CF-380), eight loaded magazines, and a knife.

The Attack

He next shot at the instructor, who was standing on the east side of the stage. The instructor tried to run out the exit at the southeast corner, but that door was locked. The instructor then ran out through the main exit at the east end of the classroom, through which the students were trying to leave. Some students who were not able to immediately escape hid under or in between the seats. When Kazmierczak paused to reload after firing three rounds, some students shouted "He's reloading," and began to escape. Others continued to hide or were too shocked to react. One of the victims, student Maria Christiansen, was critically struck in the face and neck.

After shooting all six shotgun rounds, Kazmierczak fired on the room's remaining occupants with the 9mm Glock pistol, firing a total of approximately 50 rounds. He was reported to have walked up and down the west aisle and directly in front of or on the stage, firing at people as he went. He shot and killed himself before police reached the room.

Immediate Aftermath and Response

Police Response

Driving northbound on Normal Road near Swen Parson Hall, officers encountered students running east from the Martin Luther King Commons area. One student shouted, "He's shooting over there," pointing west towards the MLK Commons area. The officers proceeded in their vehicles, then on foot, joining Chief Grady, Lieutenant Mitchell, and Lieutenant Henert, who had reached the west side of the Commons area after coming directly from the Police Station. Also racing to Cole Hall from the Police Station were Sergeant Ellington and Officer Wright. Sergeant Holland was on patrol just south of the area along Lincoln Highway when he heard the call come in, and approached the area.

In the MLK Commons, Chief Grady advised the officers to immediately begin attending to victims and identify witnesses and direct them to a room in Holmes Student Center, where they could be interviewed. While Henert established perimeters around Cole Hall, Mitchell and Grady entered the building, where they met with Holland, Ellington, and Wright. Ellington, the first officer to arrive on the scene, evacuated the adjacent auditorium, and met with the other officers in the front walkway. Holland was instructed to remain in the hallway to ensure no one came into the auditorium and that the shooter did not come out. Grady, Mitchell, Ellington, and Wright entered the south auditorium, discovering a body on the stage, surrounded by guns, with a pool of blood coming from the head. Victims with varying injuries lay on the floor or were propped up against the seats. Confirming there were no immediate threats, Grady and Mitchell began attending to victims, while Ellington and Wright confirmed that the shooter was dead.

At 3:11:42 (five minutes after the first 911 call), Ellington reported to the dispatcher, "Shooter's down. Shotgun's secure."

At the same time that officers arrived at Cole Hall, Sergeant Rodman, who had left a meeting at the Holmes Student Center, arrived at the west entrance of that building to find a shooting victim who had been shot in the back and the head, along with another victim who had blood on the face, seeking help for his injured friend.

Casualties

21 people survived the incident with injuries. 17 sustained gunshot wounds, while three injured their knees or backs escaping the scene; one injury was undetermined. On February 15, another victim sought treatment at Kishwaukee Hospital, bringing the total of hospitalized injured victims to 17.

University Closure

After the shooting, the university administration cancelled classes for the rest of the week as well as the following week.

Investigation and Findings

According to police, Steven Kazmierczak removed the hard drive from his laptop computer and a computer chip from his cell phone and did not leave a note that could help explain why he chose a geology class on Valentine's Day to open fire.

Kazmierczak's Background and Mental Health

Kazmierczak and his friends enjoyed drugs, playing with bombs in the woods, and firing pellet guns at moving cars. In early February 1994, they detonated a Drano bomb on someone's porch, for which they were taken to a police station after a mother of one of Kazmierczak's friends found bomb materials in her son's backpack.

Kazmierczak attempted suicide four times via overdose from 1996 to 1998. He graduated from Elk Grove High School in 1998, during which he was treated temporarily for mental illness at the Elk Grove Village Thresholds-Mary Hill House psychiatric center, as a result of being "unruly" at home, according to his parents Gail and Robert Kazmierczak. He was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder as a teenager.

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He later went on to study sociology at Northern Illinois University (NIU). Kazmierczak graduated from NIU in 2006 where he received the Dean's award in 2006 and was considered a stand-out, well-regarded student. Campus police describe him as a "fairly normal" and an "unstressed person." Faculty, students, and staff "revered" him, and there was no indication of any trouble. Kristie Bongiovanni (now formally Kristie Crane), academic advisor of the sociology department, worked closely with Kazmierczak and described never having seen any behaviors indicative of violence.

He was enrolled at NIU in the spring of 2007, where he took two courses in Arabic and a course called Politics of the Middle East. He left to begin graduate work in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois, where he intended to study mental health issues. He was enrolled part-time at the University of Illinois during the fall of 2007 and worked from September 24 through October 10 at the Rockville Correctional Facility for Women near the Illinois-Indiana border. His reasons for leaving were unclear; he simply "did not come back to work," according to Doug Garrison of the Indiana Department of Correction.

Medication

ABC News reports that his behavior seemed to become more erratic in the weeks leading up to the shooting, and that it is believed he stopped taking medication beforehand. His girlfriend confirmed that Kazmierczak was taking Xanax (anti-anxiety), Ambien (sleep aid), and Prozac (antidepressant), all of which were prescribed to him by a psychiatrist. She said that he stopped taking Prozac about three weeks prior to the February 14 shooting. She also said that, during their two-year relationship, she had never seen him display violent tendencies and she expressed bewilderment over the cause of the rampage. "He was anything but a monster," she said. "He was probably the nicest, most caring person ever." She also confirmed that Kazmierczak had called her early on Valentine's Day to say goodbye.

Reactions to Kazmierczak's Actions

The shooting was baffling to those who knew him, as he appeared outgoing and never appeared to have social problems. Investigators were also puzzled by their failure to find a suicide note. Some of Kazmierczak's former NIU roommates described him as a quiet man who usually stayed to himself. Kazmierczak described himself as a sensitive person in his personal statement for the University of Illinois graduate school. He also felt victimized during his adolescent years.

Community Response and Memorials

Vigils and Memorials

Approximately 2,000 gathered on campus on the evening of Friday, February 15, for a candlelight vigil to commemorate the victims; among other public figures, Jesse Jackson and Robert W. Pritchard spoke. In the days after the shooting, the Lutheran Campus Ministry held nightly candlelight vigils. CST, accompanied by the tolling of bells throughout the community, at a special ceremony attended by thousands in memory of the victims which was held at the MLK Commons. Moments of silence were also held elsewhere throughout the DeKalb community. There was a special memorial service held in the NIU Convocation Center on February 24, the day before classes resumed, in honor of the victims that initiated a set of activities and services aimed at community recovery.

Tributes

The Chicago Blackhawks NHL franchise wore NIU Huskies decals on their helmets during their game on Sunday, February 17, 2008, versus the Colorado Avalanche. A moment of silence was also observed before the national anthem at the game, and the team wore the same decal during its next two games at the St. Louis Blues and at home against the Minnesota Wild. The Chicago Wolves of the AHL held an NIU night during which there was a moment of silence and NIU students were given the opportunity to participate during in game promotions. During spring training, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén and general manager Ken Williams sported NIU caps in tribute to the victims. For their 2008 season, the Chicago Cubs flew an NIU flag over the grandstands in the out field. Virginia Tech had a tribute with students wearing shirts saying "Hokies for Huskies". Jon Bon Jovi offered his condolences in a Billboard magazine article after his band Bon Jovi was forced to cancel rehearsals slated to begin on February 14, 2008, at the NIU Convocation Center in preparation for the North American leg of the Lost Highway Tour. The Chicago-based Jam/Prog Rock band Umphrey's McGee played a benefit show at the Egyptian Theater on April 8, 2008, for the NIU Memorial Fund.

Cole Hall's Transformation

After February 14, 2008, Cole Hall was closed to the public. On February 25, 2008, then-governor Rod Blagojevich and university president John G. Peters proposed the demolition of the current Cole Hall. The proposal came as a response to the traumatic memories of the students who have to attend classes in the building. On May 8, 2008, it was announced that Cole Hall would be remodeled inside and out pending $7.7 million in state funding. This decision was made based on conversations between Dr. On August 27, 2009, the NIU Board of Trustees approved a $9.5 million budget on the Cole Hall renovation project, approximately $8 million of which will come from the aforementioned state funding, and the rest from student fees. On January 14, 2011, the reconstruction at Cole Hall officially commenced.

Memorial Garden

On October 2, 2009, a metal sculpture designed by artist Bruce Niemi entitled Remembered was unveiled at Northern Illinois University. The sculpture is part of a garden built in remembrance of the victims of the NIU shooting, located directly across from Cole Hall. The memorial area also features five red granite walls erected in a half-circle pattern which read "Forward Together Forward Together Forward." The phrase "Forward Together Forward", borrowed from the university's fight song, became a motto and theme used in the healing of the NIU community after the shooting. Each wall features the name of one of the students who died in the shooting. A walking path with benches is also included. The memorial is flanked by trees and shrubbery.

Lessons Learned and Preparedness

The investigation found that the preparedness planning and training through a collaboration among responder organizations contributed to good working relationships; trust; and the rapid triage, treatment, and transport of the victims. The NIU police officers who were first on the scene at Cole Hall used their emergency medical training effectively; however, too much time elapsed between the murders and the formal notification of the coroner. NIU's president immediately authorized activation of the Emergency Communications Plan. The broadcast messages were clear, described the situation, and told people what to do. Fire apparatus and ambulances performed well in reporting to a pre-designated location close to classrooms rather than arrive at the various sites where victims had dispersed. The fire department paramedics and EMTs, along with the police EMTs, saved lives, as victims were assessed and managed according to predetermined procedures for mass casualties. The hospital had an emergency plan and implemented it when alerted to the shooting. Once notified, the coroner came to the hospital and worked with the families in collecting information that would confirm the identities of the deceased. The families of victims were given appropriate attention and services. Favorable assessments were also made on the management of critical incident stress among workers, debriefings and post-incident critiques, and recovery.

NIU Trauma Study

NTS is unique because participants were already involved in an ongoing research study related to stressful life events at the time of the mass shooting. In the history of psychological research, it is extremely rare to have the kind of information that NTS participants provided before the unexpected tragedy. Others have recognized how unique and important the NIU Trauma Study is. The initial survey immediately following the mass shooting was funded by a grant from the Joyce Foundation. The National Institutes of Health awarded Professor Orcutt a federal grant which allowed the continuation of NTS for two and a half years following the mass shooting. In the last two time points, we collected some saliva samples for DNA analysis which was an exciting new direction for the project. In 2012, Dr. Orcutt was awarded another federal grant in order to continue examining biomarkers for risk for Posttrauamtic Stress in the NIU Trauma Study.

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