Valentine's Day massacre at Northern Illinois University

[Raptor Witness]

The figures are still rolling in, but it looks like two dozen injured, and five dead. The shooter, who was not a student, stepped from behind a curtain onto the stage of an ocean sciences class, killed the professor, then started shooting the students. He was dressed in black, didn't say a word, and when he was done emptying several weapons, multiple times, shot himself on the stage. [Link to WGN - local TV coverage]

[Wikipedia's Link]

[ryangti]

A horrific sign of America's social breakdown?
Many factors arise poverty, race, isolation,breakdowns in the system.
This will increase as the recession looms ,the war in the middle east has alienated many ethnic minorities.
Can give examples on race discrimination in Germany where attacks have increased,
turkish family were burned in their house only last week.
I see that this story is race related so was the other shooting,look how the poor black community were left to rot after katrina.


Poverty and a uncertain future and no support can be a factor itself,have you ever been mugged and then nobody helps.
The mental health system is failing as seen in the uk,there is a local who has mental health problems they lock him up instead.

Where is the help for him,as i said poverty is increasing as we speak want to send your kids somewhere for the hols.
Yeah right can sometimes cost more than a weeks wages ,so they end up on street corners either causing trouble or get picked on by the cops because they wear
hoodies.

We have forgotten how to listen and understand people why,simple because it either costs money we dont want to know or plainly dont care.
Lets see what the motive was either mental health problems,race related,poverty
or no one listened.

[Traveler]

If the state would stop expecting to thinking that it is able able to control its populations like an insect hive and deal with people as separate entities then a lot more could be done.

The casting away of religious convictions has resulted in this social breakdown as there no longer remains the empathy or philosophical understanding to communicate between people. Only the rule of law remains as a beast of control and instinct with no higher mental skills.

[Raptor Witness]

At least they didn't give this guy gavel to gavel coverage all night. I bet when the chips are all counted, the shooter turns out to be a Capone fan, or someone still pissed off at Geraldo for that [empty vault.] Face it, the False Prophet(electronic media) is manufacturing these monsters, and we just eat it up like chocolate.

[olddragon]

See " 3 Dead In College Shootings "

[aXcBlasphemy]

Why do people have to go out 'in style' as one shooter had called it. Why can't they just kill themselves and be done with it?

[JenaS62]

Why do people have to go out 'in style' as one shooter had called it. Why can't they just kill themselves and be done with it?

Yep. It's not like they are going to be reading about themselves in the newspaper the next day.

[Raptor Witness]

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[ryangti]

Other side of the Atlantic this time but no fatalties racially motivated?
Armed police sealed off a restaurant in a Birmingham retail centre after a number of shots were fired.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/w...ds/7248117.stm

[Raptor Witness]

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[ryangti]

A week of hell on earth!
It has been one of those weeks whether its bomb threats or shootings.
An explosion has rocked the centre of Mexico City, killing at least one man and injuring two other people.
The worlds going crazy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7248052.stm

Valentines massacre week is one way of describing it,thats it ban valentines day

[Raptor Witness]

Some interesting facts on the shooter, education wise, in this clip.

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Here's actual [film footage] of the shooter, acquired by the Chicago Tribune.

[Link]

[Raptor Witness]

Normally I wouldn't care to memorialize the shooter in a situation like this, but this guy is unique, in that he apparently was never a problem to anyone. This makes him a very unique lone wolf, acting on the feast of [Lupercalia.] Since he was apparently a [student of religion,] he must of been aware of this. These photos were accumulated by the Chicago Tribune, at the following [Link.]

Steven Kazmierczak as a freshman at Elk Grove High School. (Elk Grove High School yearbook photo / February 15, 2008)



Steven Kazmierczak as a junior at Elk Grove High School. (Elk Grove High School yearbook photo / February 15, 2008)



While at Elk Grove High, Kazmierczak (shown here as a sophomore) participated in band, the Japanese language program and a public service class, a school spokeswoman said. (Elk Grove High School yearbook photo / February 15, 2008)



Kazmierczak (shown here as a high school sophomore) was remembered as a gentle, hard-working student at Northern Illinois University. (Elk Grove High School yearbook picture / February 15, 2008)



Steven P. Kazmierczak, a 1998 graduate of Elk Grove High School, is seen here in his senior yearbook photo. (Tribune photo by Jim Prisching / February 15, 2008)



Steven P. Kazmierczak is shown in a photo released by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he had studied. Kazmierczak was identified by authorities as the gunman in Thursday's Northern Illinois University shooting that left five students dead. Kazmierczak also killed himself. (AFP/Getty photo / February 15, 2008)

[alphaazariah]

Who is Marciano Flores and why does he have a busted left metacarpal?

Lupine, Lupinus, Lupercal... Lone Wolf...

Don't get it....

*sigh*

[Raptor Witness]

Sorry, I had the wrong link above. Given this man's interest in religion, I wonder if perhaps instead of picking Valentine's Day, he was really picking the feast of Lupercalia.

The Lupercalia was a very ancient, possibly pre-Roman pastoral festival, observed on February 13 through February 15 to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility. The Lupercalia was believed in antiquity to have some connection with the Ancient Greek festival of the Arcadian Lycaea (from Ancient Greek: λύκος – lykos, "wolf", Latin lupus) and the worship of Lycaean Pan, the Greek equivalent to Faunus, as instituted by Evander.

- [Nov 21st, 2007]

[Grotto of Rome's Founders Revealed]



November 20, 2007—Colorful mosaics spiral across the vaulted ceiling of a grotto that was unveiled today as the likely place where ancient Romans believed that a she-wolf suckled their city's legendary founders ... cont. at link above.

[Long-lost cave of Rome's founders discovered]



November 21, 2007 - 6:40AM

Italian archaeologists believe they have found the cave where, according to legend, a wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of Rome.

An underground cavity decorated with seashells, mosaics and pumice stones was discovered near the ruins of the palace of Emperor Augustus on the Palatine hill.

Experts say they are "reasonably certain" it is the long-lost place of worship sacred to ancient Romans and known as Lupercale, from the Latin word for wolf.

"This could reasonably be the place bearing witness to the myth of Rome, one of the most well-known in the world, the legendary cave where the she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, saving them from death," said Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli, presenting the discovery.

The cave was found several metres underground in a previously unexplored area during restoration work on the palace of Augustus, the first Roman emperor.

Archaeologists investigating Renaissance descriptions of the sanctuary used a camera probe and the images suggest the vault, which has a white eagle at the centre, is well-preserved.

"You can imagine our amazement, we almost screamed," said Professor Giorgio Croci, the head of the archaeological team working on the restoration of the Palatine hill overlooking the Roman forum, told a news conference.

According to the myth, Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of the god Mars, were abandoned by the banks of the river Tiber where a wolf found them and fed them with her milk.

The brothers are said to have founded Rome at the site on April 21, 753 BC and ended up fighting over who should be in charge. Romulus killed Remus and became the first king of Rome.

Archaeologists said the location of the cave reinforced their belief that it was the Lupercale.

"It is clear that Augustus... wanted his residence to be built in a place which was sacred for the city of Rome," said Croci. The emperor had restored the sanctuary and probably connected it to his own palace ... cont. at link above.

[Zaphoid]

Why do people have to go out 'in style' as one shooter had called it. Why can't they just kill themselves and be done with it?

As Andy Warhol said, "Everyone will have their fifteen minutes of fame" Perhaps this crazy-arsed guy decided that this was his.

[olddragon]

As much as we would all like to find a correctable flaw in this guy so we could say if only someone had done something.
What we all forget is thst there is true EVIL in this world, and nothing here on earth can rid us of it. There must be balance.

[Raptor Witness]

Yeah, but you've got to realize that while this act is wrong, it would appear to be a symptom of something that isn't being addressed. We are elevating violent suicide to a pinnacle, where the common man can leave this earth as a star, of sorts.

There is nothing to be gained by publicizing this sort of behavior to the extent that it is. While colleges across the U.S. are no doubt much more prepared and secure, as a result of what Cho did at [Virginia Tech,] the number of suicide killers increases as the fame of the event is highlighted. If anything, I think it makes us less secure.

We're making violence a fantasy far and above what would be normal in a tribal setting. What we're doing is the equivalent of a tribe of native Americans holding a party for a suicide killer in their midst, before burying their own dead. It's crazy, and anyone who doesn't think we've lost our way, is truly mad.

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[Raptor Witness]

Here's an interesting interview of a NIU student from the BBC. [Something New]

[Raptor Witness]

As family and friends bury the dead, authorities search for a [motive.]

[Victim Profiles]



DAN PARMENTER

Around noon on Thursday, Dan Parmenter phoned his mother, Linda Greer, to wish her a happy Valentine's Day.

A few hours later, she received a second, horrific phone call. This one informed her that her son, a hulking rugby player, had been killed in a shooting rampage on the DeKalb campus.

Reeling from grief, his mother is now left to deal with the massacre's shocking aftermath, planning a funeral for a life that was expected to stretch for decades.

But families such as Parmenter's are also left with memories of touching gestures, of phone calls, of small acts of love and courage.

"You think about it," Parmenter's stepfather, Bob Greer, said. "How many young men do that? But coming from him...It's something he would do. He was sensitive and considerate, and he acted on those impulses."

Parmenter, who grew up in Elmhurst, was a sickly baby who didn't seemed destined to become a bruising football and rugby player.

"He had a heart defect when he was born," Bob Greer said, "and when he was just a small little tyke, they had major heart surgery on him, and he pulled through."

He attended York High School in Elmhurst, where he played football. But it was the end of his gridiron career that sticks in Greer's mind.

"He acquired a fracture somewhere in the back, and the doctor said 'you can no longer play football, otherwise you risk damaging your back permanently,' " Greer said.

Parmenter said, "OK." He quit playing football and he picked up rugby instead.

"When Linda told me this, she said she didn't even know what rugby was," Bob Greer said. "I said, 'Linda, rugby is football without the padding.' "

Linda Greer and her former husband, Gary Parmenter, divorced several years ago, but they set up an unusual arrangement for their children. The kids stayed in the same home, while the parents would alternate staying with them.

"They did that for almost a year," Greer said. "Rather than the kids going from home to home, the parents swapped homes. They did that so that the kids would have a stable home life."

Dan Parmenter was a strong Christian believer who attended a church program for toddlers and continued going to church throughout his life, Bob Greer said.

Greer, a theology professor at Judson University in Elgin, was impressed with his stepson's grasp of spiritual matters.

"We have all the confidence that he is with God now," Bob Greer said. "We have a lot of fond memories. He is a young man that, you don't have to look back on his life with regret. You can look back with a lot of fulfillment and joy, because he was such a nice person." (York High School photo)

RYANNE MACE

Ryanne Mace, an only child, was an ace student who knitted baby jackets and blankets for fun. She made a favorite snack of Cheetos and cream cheese and, friends said, had a boyfriend who planned to move to the DeKalb area this summer.

Her family was crushed by her loss Thursday. Relatives gathered at the family's home in Carpentersville. All looked like they were trying not to cry or had just finished.

"She was ten thousand times better than the best parts of each of us," the family said in a statement later. "Our hearts are broken."

Mace played violin, grew up in Carpentersville and graduated in 2006 from Dundee-Crown High School. She was a standout member of its French Club, which packed her off to college with a small scholarship, said high school principal Lynn McCarthy.

"She never wanted to miss a beat," said Amy Schwartz, 19, of Algonquin, who shared a dorm room with Mace last year. "Every night she was writing papers or reading something." (Family Photo)

JULIANNA GEHANT

After graduating from high school, Julianna Gehant set out to see the world and serve her country.

"There was just an energy about her, that she was going to do it no matter what," said Kathy Conner, Gehant's high school art teacher.

She left Mendota, a rural town of 7,200 people about 80 miles west of Illinois, and joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Over the next 12 years, she worked as a military carpenter and traveled to far-flung places such as Bosnia and Laos. Her duties included building a school in Tonga and constructing barracks wherever the armed forces needed them.

But as the Iraq war escalated, so did her family's fears for her safety. They worried about Gehant's security and urged her to leave the Army. They encouraged her to return to college, where they hoped her student status would prevent her from being recalled to active duty.

Gehant, 32, agreed for her parents' peace of mind and enrolled at NIU. She majored in elementary education and hoped to work as a 2nd-grade teacher, relatives said.

After leaving the military, Gehant moved in with her younger sister and 7-year-old nephew. She made the hourlong commute to DeKalb each day and planned to graduate next year. She paid her tuition with help from Montgomery GI Bill.

The college grind appeared to lift Gehant's spirits after a period of deep sadness, family members said. She had lost much of lust for life a few years ago after her fiance, Steve Shambaugh, died in a car accident. The two were high school sweethearts.

"She had just started to come out of her depression," said her mother, Deb Gehant.

At NIU, she enrolled in ballroom dance and talked often of the new steps she learned there. On Wednesday, she excitedly told her family that she could now do the jive. She put the lessons to good use, as she and her sister often went out dancing on the weekends.

"She was somebody we all looked up to," her sister Jen Gehant said. "She was fun and loving, and someone you can talk to about anything. If you were in a bad mood, she'd come around and lift up your spirits" (Handout, Chicago Tribune / February 15, 2008)

CATALINA GARCIA

Nothing mattered more to Catalina Garcia -- or her parents -- than getting an education. Immigrants Jacinto and Consuelo Garcia told their youngest daughter they had left their native Mexico and moved to Cicero for this very reason.

Known as "Cati" to her friends and family, she selected NIU because her older brother, Jaime, studied there and recommended it.

But Catalina had no major yet. Her family joked it was because she couldn't bear to limit her options.

Garcia, the youngest of four children, talked about becoming an elementary school teacher and wanted to join a sorority, her brother Jaime Garcia said. She had recently gotten a job at the Latino Resource Center on campus and looked forward to mentoring Hispanic freshmen through the center.

But to her family, she was always the grinning little girl who liked to dance and listen to music.

"When we remember her we will remember her as a princess who enjoyed life," Jaime Garcia said.

Garcia graduated from Cicero's Morton East High School in 2006. An honor student, she ran track, worked on the yearbook staff and was a member of the modern dance team. She was quiet but had big ideas, said Lilia Contreras, who taught Garcia's advance placement English class in 2006.

Through Cati, the Garcia family had been embraced in the United States. Her yearbook photo was featured on a page headlined "friendship."

"They came here to give their children a better life," said cousin Jesus Garcia. "They were living the American dream until this."

Her brother's NIU fraternity is collecting money for her funeral. Details can be found at www.lb86.com. (Photo courtesy of the Garcia family / February 15, 2008)

GAYLE DUBOWSKI

Gayle Dubowski loved the arts, be it singing soprano in the Glenbard North High School choir, acting in a musical, or doodling out cartoon characters that amazed her friends.

At Glenbard North, she was in the theater production of "Little Shop of Horrors," made teachers smile, and befriended Ashley Mortensen of Carol Stream soon after they met two years ago.

"She went out of her way," said Mortensen, a junior at Glenbard. "She was a really sweet and genuine person."

Dubowski grew up at the end of a cul-de-sac of modest two-story homes not far from Glenbard North High School. A wooden sign hangs at the front door declaring the establishment of the Dubowski home in 1982. On Friday, young women shuttled cases of bottled water into the house.

Glenbard North Principal John Mensik said several teachers went home early Friday after learning of Dubowski's death. Counselors were called to the school for seniors who knew her. Messages left on a Facebook memorial dedicated to Dubowski indicate a deep faith in God.

"She was so happy, open and serving," wrote friend Laura Moss. "I know that she shone so brightly for God on that campus." (Glenbard North yearbook photo / February 15, 2008)

[Raptor Witness]

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[ryangti]

Dad Shoots 2 Kids, Self at Oklahoma Air Force Base
yet another!
what is going on in these peoples heads?
The male and his ex-spouse had an altercation, officials said.
Thats no reason i say!

[Raptor Witness]

The FBI profilers can scan this man's background until Doomsday, and perhaps even fabricate evidence for why, but the answer lies in the media coverage of similar past violent events.

I've put together my feelings about this event here. If it makes you think, that's the point.
No one is putting the blame where it needs to be placed, because making movie stars out of killers has become so profitable.

[Daviswilson]

hi to all the members of the forum.this is davis wilson.
-----------------------------------------------------
Davis.

Illinois Alcohol Addiction Treatment

[lycanox]

Welcome.

Please use the correct forum sections to introduce yourself instead of necromancing death treats.