It was an especially different 2/14 for Chicagoans, but the feeling was also felt across the US and world. We all strive for a Valentine's Day filled with love. However, many experienced the complete opposite.
A gunman who opened fire at a Northern Illinois University lecture hall that Thursday afternoon -- killing five and injuring more than a dozen people -- shot himself to death, police said.
NIU President John Peters said there were 22 "casualties" - 6 deaths and 16 injuries. Four females and two males, including the shooter, died. Four people, including the shooter, died on the scene. Two victims died at the hospital. All of the five victims were undergraduates. Eighteen victims were sent to hospitals.
The gunman, Steven Kazmierczak, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the stage of the lecture hall. His body remained in the lecture hall for nearly a day as detectives worked the scene. Police say he was not a current member of NIU, rather a former graduate student who returned solely for this undertaking.
Please take a moment and leave your thoughts to the NIU family and everyone touched by this situation. Or contribute your opinion on the school shooting epidemic in general. It's completely anonymous and I'm sure will be very appreciated.