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Northern Illinois University Shooting Prompts Quick Response

Feb 1, 2008, By Jessica Jones

On Feb. 14, 27-year-old Steven Phillip Kazmierczak - a 2007 graduate of Northern Illinois University (NIU) and student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - entered NIU's Cole Hall carrying a Remington pump-action shotgun and three pistols concealed in a guitar case. He began shooting from the stage of a large auditorium used as a geology classroom, killing five and wounding 16.

Within 30 seconds of receiving report of the shooting, police arrived on the scene, according to officials. By the time they arrived, however, Kazmierczak was already dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Minutes after the shooting, administrators implemented an emergency plan they developed after the Virginia Tech tragedy. Alerts were disseminated to cell phones via text and voice-recorded messages, as well as e-mail.

 

 

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