2008 Northern Illinois University shooting

On the afternoon of Thursday, February 14, 2008, Steven Kazmierczak, a 27-year-old former Northern Illinois University (NIU) graduate, entered a large lecture hall in Cole Hall (Auditorium 101) at approximately 3:05 p.m. Central Standard Time, where an oceanography class of about 120 students was in session. He forced open the door, entered near the stage, and began firing at students using a 12-gauge shotgun he had concealed in a guitar case. He fired all six shotgun rounds and then continued firing with a 9mm Glock 19 pistol, discharging approximately 50 rounds in total. Police later recovered 48 fired cartridge cases, six shotgun shells, and 55 unfired rounds at the scene. Kazmierczak also carried two additional pistols and a knife but did not use them. He fatally shot himself before police entered the room.

Five students — Catalina Garcia, Juliana Gehant, Ryanne Mace, Daniel Parmenter, and Gayle Dubowski — died as a result of the shooting; all were Illinois residents. Twenty-one other people were injured, 17 from gunshot wounds and others from injuries sustained while fleeing. Victims were treated at multiple area hospitals, including Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb, Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, and Rockford Memorial Hospital.

NIU police and officers from several other agencies responded within minutes; the first 911 call was logged at 3:06 p.m., and officers confirmed the shooter was dead by 3:11:42 p.m. The university placed the campus on lockdown, canceled classes for the remainder of the week and the following week, and later added an extra week of instruction in May to make up lost time.

Kazmierczak had graduated from NIU in 2006 with a strong academic record and was, at the time of the shooting, a graduate student in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He had a documented history of mental illness, including a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder as a teenager and prior suicide attempts. Acquaintances and NIU officials described him as a well-regarded, seemingly unstressed student with no record of trouble, and investigators found no suicide note. His girlfriend said he had stopped taking prescribed Prozac roughly three weeks before the attack and had called her early on the morning of the shooting to say goodbye. Authorities intercepted packages he had mailed her that included ammunition, a gun holster, and a final note.

The university held vigils, a week of silence observations, and a memorial ceremony in the following weeks. Cole Hall was later renovated rather than demolished, reopening in January 2012, and a memorial garden with a sculpture titled "Remembered" was dedicated in October 2009. The event is recorded as the deadliest school shooting in Illinois history.