Atlanta, GA 2/15/2008 10:57:14 PM
News / Education

Steve Kazmierczak Identified as NIU Gunman

The gunman in the school shooting Thursday at Northern Illinois University's Dekalb campus has been identified as Steve Kazmierczak.

Kazmierczak, 27, is a former NIU student who may have been enacting revenge over a failed relationship. Kazmierczak is featured on the school's website for receiving the Dean's Award in Sociology in 2006 and it is rumored that he was the Vice-President of the Academic Criminal Justice Association at NIU.

Kazmierczak walked into a biology class in Cole Hall through the back door and opened fire in the classroom Thursday afternoon, killing six and injuring 15. He then fatally shot himself.

Kazmierczak was carrying a shotgun and two pistols.

Classes were cancelled for twenty minutes after the shooting, and classes are cancelled Friday.

Several students were taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital, just 10 minutes away from campus.

Northern Illinois University, which was founded 113 years ago, is 65 miles west of downtown Chicago and has an enrollment of more than 25,000. The campus covers 755 acres.

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