The Northern Illinois University Shooting occurred on February 14, 2008, the shooting was committed by Steven Kazmierczak, a former student of the school. Kazmierczak at the time of the shooting was 27 years old and was a graduate student at the University of Illinois. Kazmierczak had been temporarily treated for mental illness after he graduated from high school in 1998 because of his parents describing him as “unruly” at home. He was later diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder; this disorder is the combination of schizophrenia and a mood disorder. Despite this, Kazmierczak went on to study sociology at NIU and coauthored a paper before graduating and attending grad school at the University of Illinois.
Yet, at 3:05pm Kazmierczak entered the Cole Lecture Hall on the NIU campus and was armed with two .380 handguns, a Glock 19, and a 12-Gauge Remington Shotgun. It was reported that Kazmierczak kicked the door to the hall open and began firing at the 120 students present in the hall. Kazmierczak first fired with the shotgun and many students that were unable to escape easily through doors fell to the floor and hid between seats. Kazmierczak reloaded the shotgun after only firing three times and many students shouted that he was reloading and some took the opportunity to flee that hall. Despite this some students kept hiding or were - - - - - - - - - -
The remainder of this article is part of the book "Active Killers and the Crimes They Perpetrated," available in print or ebook via Amazon.
Joshua Borelli
Joshua Borelli has been studying active shooter and mass attack events over the course of the past several years, commensurate with receiving training on response and recovery to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Joshua started to outline this series of articles in an attempt to identify commonalities and logistical needs patterns for response.
