School Shooting at Northern IL University

[hotdesk]

Today at 3pm there was a school shooting at Northern IL University. There is very little information, but the student news group has informed media outlets that there were 15 people shot and two killed, including the shooter. The incident was, as the officials are putting it, confined to a single lecture hall, Cole Hall. The motive is still unclear. The school is still under lockdown and all events are canceled for tonight and tommorow. The gunman was not an NIU student.

 

I live about 45 minutes from the school campus. I am a sophomore at our local community college. The only reason that I am at the community college and not at NIU is that my dad died back in August of 2006 (which was the Summer I graduated high school).

 

I know that I am keeping the staff, students, families, friends, and others at NIU in my prayers not only tonight but in the future.

[prof]

These types of tragedies, which seem to be occuring more often, sadden all of us.

My prayers also go out to the families of those affected as well as the entire NIU family.

Steve

 

[GernBlansten]

The real tragedy is how desensitized we are getting to these stories. Remember the horror of Columbine? The 24/7 coverage for several months. Now an event like this is maybe one or two days of coverage, then back to your regular scheduled programing.

[John-in-KC]

I listened to NPR (All Things Considered) on a drive today. The NIU university relations director was on the horn.

 

While there are ways out, several of them involve making schools and colleges jail-like, if we do not want the risk.

 

I actually enjoyed the piece, the NPR folks weren't able to win their point!

[packsaddle]

"We" are not, I think, becoming desensitized. Last spring after the Virginia Tech tragedy my students were in shock and we collectively responded in many ways. This spring, now that the tragedy has been repeated, my new crop of students are reacting exactly the same way as my others did last year and I expect our responses will be repeated as well.

 

I note, also, that I am already hearing the idiots on talk shows calling for more guns on campus...just like last time...and just like Columbine. So the sensitivity, as far as I can detect, is still there for all viewpoints.

[Lisabob]

I have to agree with packsaddle, as I've witnessed the same horrified reactions on my campus to this event, as to the Virginia Tech tragedy last year. Yesterday we had a noticeable increase in security patrols in our classroom buildings which was comforting to some, even more disturbing to others.

 

And yeah, one of my colleagues is now advocating that we should all be allowed to carry concealed weapons in our classrooms too, citing the recent shooting at that town council meeting in Kentwood MO as additional "proof" that carrying a concealed weapon would be beneficial in such terrible situations. As a matter of fact, the thought of most of my colleagues with guns in the classroom is rather laughable, though in a few cases it is downright scary.

 

As for me, I signed on to do this job so that I could talk about ideas with students, not so I could play armed guard and participate in turning our colleges (as well as our K-12 public schools) into prisons. The day when I become so afraid of my students that I feel the need to bring a gun to class, or to my office hours, would be a sad day indeed. I certainly hope it never comes to that.

 

I can't pretend to make sense of what happened at NIU the other day. My thoughts go out to all those who are affected by these sad events.

[le Voyageur]

These shootings are nothing more then a venue for a fleeting moment of fame for society's underdogs. Time for the media to consider some self censoring to starve this trend to death.....

 

Additionally, banning guns is not the solution. It's the opposite, an armed society is a polite society, and training in the use of firearms and competive shooting should be brought back into the school system.

 

 

 

[OldGreyEagle]

The high schools in the area I reside still have rifle teams. Most are well populated with Eagles or soon to be Eagles.

 

The point Le Voyageur makes is quite true. I have often thought that the reason school shootings occur in suburban areas and rural areas and university's is because the shooter has little chance of facing return fire. This may explain why there aren't school shootings in LA, Detroit, Chicago, New York, etc

[Beavah]

Yah, I reckon NIU has ROTC students and Criminal Justice majors, eh? Folks who in a couple years will be carrying weapons as pros. Seems like one of 'em with a concealed weapon would have ended this tragedy with less than half the number of people dead and injured, eh? The man was standin' at the front, leavin' folks a clear field of fire. And he stopped to reload before he continued his rampage!

 

Now, I reckon I wouldn't trust university faculty with a weapon, though, eh?

 

All my thoughts and prayers to those involved, and an official Scout Salute to the many student first responders who cared for their injured colleagues. I appreciated the story of the Michigan Eagle Scout who went running into the building others were fleeing from so as to help care for the wounded. Somebody down there should remember to put the lad in for an Honor Medal.

 

We can take solace, I hope, in the fact that Scouting helps make that kind of young man. Heroes dressed in khaki, not villains dressed in black.

 

Beavah