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Investigators Piece Together NIU Massacre Details

6 Dead In Science Lecture Hall Shooting

 SLIDESHOW: NIU Massacre

DE KALB, Ill. (CBS) ― Little by little, investigators are piecing together what happened at Northern Illinois University Thursday when a gunman entered a crowded lecture hall and opened fire, killing five people before taking his own life. Why it happened is not nearly as clear.

Sometime Thursday 27-year-old gunman Stephen Kazmierczak drove onto the campus and parked in the lot outside of Cole Hall.

Just after 3 p.m. he walked inside, stepped into the lecture hall stage and began firing.

Investigators say he had four weapons – three handguns hidden in his coat and a shotgun, hidden in a guitar case.

"I can't tell you exactly how many shots he fired, but I can tell you that we found 48 casings and six shotgun shells that were expended," said NIU Police Chief Donald Grady. "That gives us some indication."

Grady says his officers responded quickly and were at the scene outside some 30 seconds after they were alerted – still, however, too late to stop the carnage.

A total of five people besides the gunman were killed. DeKalb County Coroner Dennis Miller said earlier reports of a sixth victim were incorrect.

The people killed have been identified as Daniel Parmenter, 20, of Westcheter; Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero; Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville; Julianna Gehant, 32, of downstate Meridan; and Gayle Dubowski, 20, of Carol Stream, according to the DeKalb County coroner's office. Fifteen others have been hospitalized.

By Friday morning, no motive had been established, Grady said.

"We have found no notes at this time, so we have no idea what the motive was," he said. "We're still working on that."

He had purchased two of the four firearms – a Remington and a Glock 9mm – from a gun dealer in Champaign-Urbana on Feb. 9, just five days before the shooting, Grady said.

The other two guns were also legally purchased at the Champaign store -- a High Point 380 pistol on Dec. 30, 2007, and a Sig Sauer pistol on Aug. 6, 2007, according to Tom Ahern, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Kazmierczak had a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card, which is required for all Illinois residents who buy or possess firearms, authorities said.

"A preliminary investigation showed he did not have a police record, and we had no record of him having any contact with the police while he was here," said NIU Vice President of Public Affairs Melanie Magara.

Kazmierczak had been on medication, but he had stopped taking it and had "become somewhat erratic in the last couple of weeks," Grady said. He would not specify the condition that required the medication.

"We were dealing with a disturbed individual who intended to do harm on this campus," NIU President John Peters said.

The shooting happened at a geology lecture class in Cole Hall. Officials said Kazmierczak emerged from behind a screen at the front of the lecture hall and opened fire with a shotgun.

Witnesses said Kazmierczak shot the teacher, a graduate student instructor, and several students before killing himself onstage in front of the class.

Witnesses described the shooting as "a very brief rapid-fire assault that ended with the gunman taking his own life," Peters said.

"This is a national tragedy that happened on the DeKalb campus of Northern Illinois University," said NIU Board of Trustees Chair Cherilyn Murer.

Sheila Cosgrove was taking notes in the fifth row when the gunman opened fire.

"He just walked out and just stood there on the stage and I guess he shot the teacher first, but I didn't see him shoot the teacher, I just saw him shooting at the crowd of students," Cosgrove said.

Ducking behind seats, she started to crawl away, finally reaching the rear door. "I just heard shots, boom, boom, boom, and then I just kept going, I kept going. I saw blood dripping on the aisle and I just got up towards when I got to the end of the chairs because I couldn't crawl anymore. I was right by the door. I stood up and looked behind me and he was still shooting; he was shooting towards the other side of the aisle and I kind of felt his glare kind of looking at me and I just turned around really fast and kept going."

Allyse Jerome was also in the lecture hall.

"All of a sudden this guy bursts through the stage door and pulls out a gun and starts shooting, and honestly at first everyone thought it was a joke, and then it turned real, and you saw the blood, and you heard the screaming, and it was terrible," Jerome said. "Everybody hit the floor after the first shot, and after about three or four more shots, I got up and ran because everyone was doing the same thing."

David Healy is an NIU teaching assistant.

"I saw people just running off of campus and people were crying and holding each other, police were running around everywhere, and the whole town was just a huge, loud siren," Healy said.

Healy said he had a close friend who witnessed the shooting.

"She said that the gunman came out of the door of the stage and everyone thought it was fake," Healy said, "and he started shooting and people started screaming and running, and it was just really hard to make it through, but she made it safe."

Authorities said they recovered the shotgun and one of the handguns, but had not yet recovered the second handgun.

Classes at the university have been canceled through the weekend, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich has declared a state of emergency. That will allow local governments to apply for reimbursements of costs releated to the response to the shootings, which will come out of the governor's disaster relief budget.

The NIU Department of Public Safety is asking that any individuals who witnessed the Feb. 14 shooting, or who believe they have any information related to the shooting, call the University Tip Line at (815) 753-TIPS. Police will return calls as soon as possible.

The FBI is processing the crime scene and the investigation is being aided by the Illinois State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, the State Crisis Management Team, the City of DeKalb Police, City of Sycamore Police, DeKalb County Sheriff's Department, the Ben Gordon Center and the DeKalb, Sycamore and Cortland Fire Departments, as well as FEMA.

CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli and Mike Parker, and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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