ANOTHER Shooting Spree - Northern Illinois University

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 5:11pm

The world has gone crazy!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23171567/

DEKALB, Ill. - A gunman opened fire in a lecture hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University, and more than a dozen people were reported injured.

WBBM in Chicago reported that a man with a shotgun began shooting in a lecture hall, and the (DeKalb) Daily Chronicle reported that police said on a scanner that the man had a shotgun and a pistol.

Hospitals in the area were told to expect up to 15 injured people.

[Dancinqueen123]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 5:32pm

A few people I graduated with go to NIU and I'm hoping that they're all okay.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 5:33pm

OMG. I'm suddenly very glad my friend transfered to another school this year.

[Prisoner 24601]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 5:41pm

My cousin's there. We haven't heard from her yet.

[Dancinqueen123]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 5:49pm

I'm keeping your cousin in my prayers, prisoner

[Prisoner 24601]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 6:02pm

Thanks, dancin. We just got a call from our uncle saying she's okay.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 6:51pm

oh wow.....my mother's cousin used to be the chair of the art department there

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 7:20pm

A friend's best friend's son was in the hall. He is okay, was covered in blood after trying to help save the victims. What the hell is going on?

[wexy]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 9:02pm

Its just horrible. Its becoming a weekly event.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 9:27pm

Every time I hear about another shooting like this (which is all too frequently lately), it makes me almost physically ill.

Posted: 2/14/08 at 10:20pm

On the local news they said that this incident is the FOURTH shooting on a college campus THIS WEEK. Can that be possible?

[bschneid76]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 10:34pm

So sad to read this. What is the matter with people! It angers me so that we have to go through life fearing for ours and others lives when we should be in peace. It is a damn shame!

[RENTingFAME]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 10:35pm

Yes, it can, which is gross.

I heard about this today while I was watching Jeopardy... I live in the Chicago area so it was breaking news that they covered for at least an hour.

So crazy...

[Stagedoor2]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 10:55pm

DeKalb is my home town -- it's where I grew up and where my parent's still live. It's not supposed to happen there. I realize that it's not supposed to happen anywhere, but this is unreal. It's a nice small(ish) town.

My thoughts are with all of the victims and their families.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 11:06pm

When they made sweeping reform for the "rights" of persons with mental illness, they threw the baby out with the bathwater. This was predicted. When you allow a person with mental illness to make their own decisions (that's the law) and allow them to check out of hospitals (or not go at all) when the are most in need of help, this is the result. Well, this and Britney. Our prisons are now over-flowing with the mentally ill. Not our hospitals, our prisons.
Updated On: 2/14/08 at 11:06 PM

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 2/14/08 at 11:22pm

I pray for the victims of this dreadful violence. SD2, I to Dekalb County for court and it is a great place!

[Yawper]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 12:52am

You're making a rather sweeping assumption there, Johnboy. There's been no indication (yet) that the shooter had any prior contact with mental health services.

What's really telling is that, according to ABC News at least, there are more guns in the US than there are adults. The Texas congresswoman who gave a comment essentially advocated for everyone to carry a gun. Personally I don't think that would prevent berserk gunmen going off in public.

[RENThead414]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 12:45pm

Almost as distressing as the shooting itself: Westboro plans to picket victims' memorials and funerals. This whole thing makes me sick.

[Yawper]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 12:55pm

If those Westboro folks protest too close to Chicago they're liable to get a beatdown. One of these days somebody's going to just wail on them.

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 1:24pm

You're making a rather sweeping assumption there, Johnboy. There's been no indication (yet) that the shooter had any prior contact with mental health services.

This may come as a complete shock to you, Yawper, but the majority of mentally ill prisoners, had no prior contact with mental health services. That was precisely the point of my post. Sick people aren't in a position to determine if they are sick, yet our laws say they are.

Posted: 2/15/08 at 1:35pm

John Boy can you PLEASE explain what you are talking about- if he's had no contact with mental health services how did the alleged "Sweeping reforms" you are talking about effect him? What does the mentally ill being sent to prison have to do with this case where he's apparently never been classified as Mentally Ill or sent to a hospital, treatment center OR prison?

[Yawper]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 1:44pm

"This may come as a complete shock to you, Yawper, but the majority of mentally ill prisoners, had no prior contact with mental health services. That was precisely the point of my post."

No, that's not a shock at all and furthermore that's certainly not how your previous post came across. You wrote:
"When they made sweeping reform for the "rights" of persons with mental illness, they threw the baby out with the bathwater. This was predicted. When you allow a person with mental illness to make their own decisions (that's the law) and allow them to check out of hospitals (or not go at all) when the are most in need of help, this is the result."

which is *entirely* different from not having any contact at all with mental health professionals - you are aware, are you not, that anyone deemed a threat to themselves or others can be held against their will?

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 1:58pm

Both of you are completely missing my point (an epidemic around here). People who are mentally ill, often have a family member or friend who know they are mentally ill, but our laws prevent those people from doing anything about it. In the past, a family member was allowed to request testing and hospital stays, etc., to determine their loved-ones state of mental health. That is no longer allowed. Only the person (who may have a mental illness), is permitted to sign themselves in for that sort of testing. A court can order it, as well, but the situation has got to be extreme, with lots of documented evidence. That's almost always following a crime. That's why our prisons are filled with mentally ill people who have never been seen by a professional. The determination of their mental illness comes after they've done something illegal. However, I'm sure that they had parents, spouses, children, friends who knew something was wrong and could do nothing about it, because of our laws.

Posted: 2/15/08 at 2:01pm

"I'm sure that they had parents, spouses, children, friends who knew something was wrong and could do nothing about it, because of our laws."

You are? Man, YOU





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[JustAGuy]

Posted: 2/15/08 at 2:15pm

"Both of you are completely missing my point (an epidemic around here)."

Perhaps, if you made your POINT clear the first time around, people wouldn't be missing it. You speak in broad generalities, and expect everyone to get your POINT. You might want to look at your style of writing, before you blame others for not getting your POINT.