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Thursday, February 14, 2008
UPDATE: As Many as 17 Injured in Campus Shooting; Several Critically
17:40 CST - 14 Feb 2008
As Many as 17 Injured in Campus Shooting; Several Critically
DEKALB, IL: A gunman opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois
University on Thursday, injuring as many as 17 people before he died,
authorities said. DeKalb Police Lt. Gary Spangler told the NIU student
newspaper "The Northern Star" that the gunman was dead. It was not
immediately clear how the assailant died.
Two victims were being airlifted to Rockford Memorial Hospital, and two others with head injuries were expected at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, also in Rockford, representatives of those hospitals said.
Kishwaukee Community Hospital spokeswoman Theresa Komitas told WLS-TV in Chicago it received 17 victims all with wounds from the shooting or flying debris, including three with serious injuries. She said she knew of no deaths at the hospital.
George Gaynor, a senior geography student, who was in Cole Hall when the shooting happened, told the student newspaper that the shooter was "a skinny white guy with a stocking cap on." Other witnesses said the young man carried a shotgun and a pistol. Any further identification of the gunman, or a motive for the incident, was not available at the time of this report.
The FBI was en route to the scene Thursday afternoon...