Mar 5, 2008 11:54 am US/Central
NIU President Rethinking Cole Hall Demolition
Meanwhile, Shop Where Gunman Bought Firearms Closes
DE KALB, Ill. (AP) ―
Less than a week after plans were announced to raze the Northern Illinois University lecture hall where five students were killed, there is now talk more thought must be given the idea.
Six days ago, NIU President John Peters held a news conference with Gov. Rod Blagojevich to announce that Cole Halls will be torn down.
On Tuesday, Peters changed course and called for a campus wide discussion on the building's fate.
In an e-mail to faculty and students, Peters said Cole Hall's fate "should represent a consensus opinion" of the entire NIU community.
Peters had said he decided within days of the Feb. 14 shootings that the building needed to be demolished.
Shop Where Kazmierczak Bought Guns Closes
Meanwhile, the backyard gun shop where NIU gunman Steven Kazmierczak bought five guns has closed.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Thomas Ahern says the owner of Tony's Guns and Ammo in Champaign gave up his federal gun dealer's license this week and closed.
Kazmierczak was a graduate student at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He legally bought handguns and a shotgun at the shop before killing the five students at NIU and committing suicide.
The Associated Press left a message seeking comment at a phone number still listed for the shop Wednesday.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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