Gunman opens fire in North Illinois University

[Maisie]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1305546,00.html

 

[gwendolyn]

*heart sinks*

 

[emilina22]

its really sad especially since i have friends that are current students there now, i got a hold of them and they are all fine, but its still a very sad thing to have happened today

 

[musey]

I just found out that a kid I went to high school with was shot/possibly killed in the shooting. Major bummer.

 

[LegacyGirl]

I don''t understand why this is becoming the thing to do.. what is wrong with people?

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/14/2008 7:02:28 PM
Author: musey
I just found out that a kid I went to high school with was shot/possibly killed in the shooting. Major bummer.

that stinks prayers outgoing.
So far the word is that everyone I know is ok.

 

[Ellen]

Ya know, I was glancing through my Readers Digest today, and there was an article about picking "safe" schools for your kids, and what to ask/look out for. I thought to myself, are we really there, is this really necessary??

I guess so.

 

[snlee]

How sad. It breaks my heart that shootings are happening so frequently and schools are no longer a safe place. My thoughts go out to students and family.

 

[Kaleigh]

Prayers outgoing to all the students, their families and loved ones. Having one in college, I can relate to how scary this is. You just never know.....

 

[Tacori E-ring]

It is heartbreaking.

 

[Angel7]

It is so sad. Is anything safe anymore? Even this past week(s) in Illinois women were killed while shopping at Lane Bryant. Scary how your life can just be taken from you.
Musey - I''m sorry..

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 2/14/2008 7:02:28 PM
Author: musey
I just found out that a kid I went to high school with was shot/possibly killed in the shooting. Major bummer.

musey,
I am so sorry.

 

[Catmom]

It''s so sad. Five dead plus the gunman. We know several people that are students there. All are ok thank goodness, but we are just stunned.

 

[strmrdr]

local news announced a few min ago that another of the victims that was transferred here passed away.
The persons parents were not able too get here in time too see the victim.

They also had an interview with one of the parents who''s daughter was shot in the hand and the head.
She is expected too survive but lost an eye and is going into surgery right now.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 2/14/2008 11:31:22 PM
Author: strmrdr
local news announced a few min ago that another of the victims that was transferred here passed away.
The persons parents were not able too get here in time too see the victim.

They also had an interview with one of the parents who's daughter was shot in the hand and the head.
She is expected too survive but lost an eye and is going into surgery right now.

Those poor parents, sending prayers their way. Prayers to all the survivors, and their loved ones. This just blows me away, you want to ask why? Just so tragic.

 

[ladypirate]

That''s so sad.

There was another shooting at a high school close to us a couple of days ago and they just announced the kid died today. I don''t understand why these kids think that killing innocent people is the best way to make a statement.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/15/2008 1:24:27 AM
Author: ladypirate
That''s so sad.

There was another shooting at a high school close to us a couple of days ago and they just announced the kid died today. I don''t understand why these kids think that killing innocent people is the best way to make a statement.

Iv got a theory but this is neither the time nor the thread.

 

[indecisive]

Date: 2/15/2008 2:39:15 AM
Author: strmrdr

Date: 2/15/2008 1:24:27 AM
Author: ladypirate
That''s so sad.

There was another shooting at a high school close to us a couple of days ago and they just announced the kid died today. I don''t understand why these kids think that killing innocent people is the best way to make a statement.

Iv got a theory but this is neither the time nor the thread.

me too

. This is so sad. I went to school where a major shooting happened and I never felt unsafe. It seems like there really are no "safe" schools and this could happen anywhere

 

[Sha]

I remember when Columbime was thought of as an isolated incident. Now it seems like mass shootings are so common! It''s only February and so far I''ve heard of... let''s see...a mass shooting at a subarban mall, a mass shooting at a City Council meeting, a mass shooting at a school (can''t remember where), and now another mass shooting at a University. All in which innocent people just going about their business have been gunned down. This is crazy!! How can one feel safe when any sicko can just take people''s lives away so easily?

On CNN yesterday, they said that this has been the 5th school shooting for the year. And it''s only February!! At this rate, how many innocent people will have their lives taken away from them?

I dont'' live in the U.S, but I think this is a very serious situation that needs to be addressed. People seem immune to it now...where''s the outrage? What are authorities going to do to prevent his from happening? Every month there''s another mass killing... and nothing is being done...Noone is safe anymore

 

[nessvan12]

My prayers are for the families who have suffered a loss in this senseless and tragic crime.

Why does this sort of thing only seem to happen in the USA or do I just not hear about these sort of things from other countries. It''s insane when I''ve gotten to the point of being scared to send my future children to SCHOOL!?

 

[Maisie]

In our country (England) it seems there is a new wave of violent crime - but its with knives and not guns.

We just don''t seem to have this dreadful problem with gun crime here. It does happen but its isolated incidents really.

 

[Sha]

Do you think it''s because of the relatively freer access to guns in the U.S? I never hear about shootings like this happening in England or Canada, where I know gun laws are stricter.

There are disturbed people all over the world, but in my opinion....disturbed person + (relatively) easy access to guns = a VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 2/15/2008 9:31:48 AM
Author: Sha
I remember when Columbime was thought of as an isolated incident. Now it seems like mass shootings are so common! It''s only February and so far I''ve heard of... let''s see...a mass shooting at a subarban mall, a mass shooting at a City Council meeting, a mass shooting at a school (can''t remember where), and now another mass shooting at a University. All in which innocent people just going about their business have been gunned down. This is crazy!! How can one feel safe when any sicko can just take people''s lives away so easily?

On CNN yesterday, they said that this has been the 5th school shooting for the year. And it''s only February!! At this rate, how many innocent people will have their lives taken away from them?

I dont'' live in the U.S, but I think this is a very serious situation that needs to be addressed. People seem immune to it now...where''s the outrage? What are authorities going to do to prevent his from happening? Every month there''s another mass killing... and nothing is being done...Noone is safe anymore

As much as I truly hate all this, and have asked myself the very same question, in reality there is only so much they can do. We can''t live in a bubble, and who would want to?

The real question at hand is, WHY are these people doing this? What is compelling them to blast away a bunch of defenseless people? It hasn''t always been like this, so why is it now? That''s the real answer to look for...

 

[Erin]

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html


Look at the timeline of shootings across the world. The US overwhelmingly has the most occurences.

 

[Maisie]

This kind of crime is so rare here that we really remember when it does happen. The two most remembered are these:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/19/newsid_2534000/2534669.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/13/newsid_2543000/2543277.stm

Nobody could believe that this could happen, especially in the places it did. Maybe if it had been in the centre of London or a major city....

The children in the Dunblane shootings were 5 and 6 year olds.

 

[onvacation]

Date: 2/15/2008 11:45:16 AM
Author: Ellen

Date: 2/15/2008 9:31:48 AM
Author: Sha
I remember when Columbime was thought of as an isolated incident. Now it seems like mass shootings are so common! It''s only February and so far I''ve heard of... let''s see...a mass shooting at a subarban mall, a mass shooting at a City Council meeting, a mass shooting at a school (can''t remember where), and now another mass shooting at a University. All in which innocent people just going about their business have been gunned down. This is crazy!! How can one feel safe when any sicko can just take people''s lives away so easily?

On CNN yesterday, they said that this has been the 5th school shooting for the year. And it''s only February!! At this rate, how many innocent people will have their lives taken away from them?

I dont'' live in the U.S, but I think this is a very serious situation that needs to be addressed. People seem immune to it now...where''s the outrage? What are authorities going to do to prevent his from happening? Every month there''s another mass killing... and nothing is being done...Noone is safe anymore

As much as I truly hate all this, and have asked myself the very same question, in reality there is only so much they can do. We can''t live in a bubble, and who would want to?

The real question at hand is, WHY are these people doing this? What is compelling them to blast away a bunch of defenseless people? It hasn''t always been like this, so why is it now? That''s the real answer to look for...

I do. I live in Illinois, and I can''t believe it happened so close from where I live. I agree about Columbine not being an isolated incident; it''s happening much too often these days. I got an email from our Chancellor this morning that the gunman was a U of I student at that. I GO to the U of I. I don''t want to go to school, I just want to stay at home and work. I don''t think I would feel safe at school anymore. All my friends are saying after yesterday that they''re going to try to stay at school as little as possible. But sooner or later, we all have to be somewhere.... Where do these kids get their guns???

One of my professors told me about a girl who was killed on campus, after being taken from behind in an OPEN SPACE parking lot, right in the middle of everything. Now my mom''s worried sick about me wearing my e-ring in public, and she wants me to lock my ring up in a vault at the bank. Never mind that it''s not even a day old! Not that these random "I have a statement to make and I''m so pathetic that I can''t get anyone to listen without killing myself and dragging innocent others along with me" killing sprees have anything to do with jewelry (or so I imagine), but if normally sane people can do crazy things like that, what could really evil people be capable of? I don''t even want to know. What a sad world. I really feel sorry for the parents who lost their children.

So yes, Ellen, I want to stay home in a bubble and wear my ring.

But then when people go around breaking into houses.....

Oh what a world we live in. Poor parents. My heart and prayers go out to them.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/15/2008 11:39:35 AM
Author: Sha
Do you think it''s because of the relatively freer access to guns in the U.S? I never hear about shootings like this happening in England or Canada, where I know gun laws are stricter.

There are disturbed people all over the world, but in my opinion....disturbed person + (relatively) easy access to guns = a VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

not really the thread for this but bad doctors and misprescribed drugs is more of a cause than guns.
I cant really discuss it but a friends son was put on ritalin and went off it and went extremely violent, turns out he was bipolar and is doing much better now on the right meds.
The ritalin generation is in big trouble, combine the side effects and the havoc it can create within a rapidly changing chemical structure and bad doctors misprescribing it and its a recipe for disaster.
Over 95% of these monsters have been or were on it.

For 4 years I shot guns in the high schools basement and no one ever got shot, guns aren''t the problem.

 

[Sha]

Very interesting info. For some periods, it''s at least one per month.

And these are only school shootings!! The recent mall and City Council shooting aren''t even counted here!!

Something is very, very wrong. I firmly believe that if guns were less accessible most of these crimes wouldn''t have occured. There are only so many people you can kill with a knife... and then you have to be in close proximity to them as well. Guns make it SO much easier.....

.

There is an updated story of Yahoo now that says he bought the guns legally. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080215/ts_alt_afp/uscrimeschoolshooting . He didn''t have a criminal record.

Ellen, with regard to why people are doing this? I think one of the problems is that there''s less regard for human life than maybe there was years ago? Also, some of the perpetrators are probably mentally disturbed as well.

It''s so sad.

 

[onvacation]

Date: 2/15/2008 2:59:55 PM
Author: strmrdr

Date: 2/15/2008 11:39:35 AM
Author: Sha
Do you think it''s because of the relatively freer access to guns in the U.S? I never hear about shootings like this happening in England or Canada, where I know gun laws are stricter.

There are disturbed people all over the world, but in my opinion....disturbed person + (relatively) easy access to guns = a VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

not really the thread for this but bad doctors and misprescribed drugs is more of a cause than guns.
I cant really discuss it but a friends son was put on ritalin and went off it and went extremely violent, turns out he was bipolar and is doing much better now on the right meds.
The ritalin generation is in big trouble, combine the side effects and the havoc it can create within a rapidly changing chemical structure and bad doctors misprescribing it and its a recipe for disaster.
Over 95% of these monsters have been or were on it.

For 4 years I shot guns in the high schools basement and no one ever got shot, guns aren''t the problem.

Strm, I understand your position on guns, and there are guns being used for good reasons, but I do think that guns in the hands of the wrong people are at least part of the problem. Medication is a whole other issue, and you''re right in that it can drive sane people mad. But can you imaging a killing spree with a knife or tomahawks? The problem with guns and bombs are that they can kill too easily. Not to mention that shooting a gun must make one feel more empowered than blasting bombs.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/15/2008 3:03:16 PM
Author: Sha
Very interesting info. For some periods, it''s at least one per month.

And these are only school shootings!! The recent mall and City Council shooting aren''t even counted here!!

Something is very, very wrong. I firmly believe that if guns were less accessible most of these crimes wouldn''t have occured. There are only so many people you can kill with a knife... and then you have to be in close proximity to them as well. Guns make it SO much easier.....

.

There is an updated story of Yahoo now that says he bought the guns legally. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080215/ts_alt_afp/uscrimeschoolshooting . He didn''t have a criminal record.

Ellen, with regard to why people are doing this? I think one of the problems is that there''s less regard for human life than maybe there was years ago? Also, some of the perpetrators are probably mentally disturbed as well.

It''s so sad.

If the teacher had been armed it would have been stopped right away.
All gun laws do is disarm the victims.
I know of one case that didn''t even make the front page local news where a gunman entered a playground and never got a shot off before a parent shot him.
Concealed carry isn''t politically correct so the news didn''t cover it.