NIU Shootings

DEKALB, Ill. (CBS) ― Classes are back in session Northern Illinois University 11 days after a gunman killed five students, wounded 17 others and then took his own life.

Students and faculty are healing with the help of counselors and a support system.

CBS 2's Mike Parker reports the commons at NIU are crowded again Monday, but things are hardly back to normal. You can almost touch the grief and mourning that's still going on.

Five hundred volunteer clinicians have come to counsel members of the NIU family, many of whom are still reeling. They are in every classroom and dormitory.

"People who were locked down and had traumatic experiences, people who were directly involved, to help them process and talk about those experiences and move past that pain," said Deborah Haliczer of NIU employee relations.

"We want to make sure our students are aware that it is OK to talk about what happened. We want to give them that space," said counselor Dr. Micky Sharma.

It's not violence that Northern Illinois University senior Kristen Bortolotti feared when classes resumed -- it's the memories. "It's not necessarily that we're scared that there's going to be someone with a gun," said the 24-year-old from Elgin. "It's the memories of what we saw."

NIU sophomore Jeff Mazur said Monday morning "I'm expecting to see a lot of togetherness and I'm excited about going back to school. I'm optimistic. I really want to meet with all my friends that I didn't get a chance to talk to last week, that I don't have their numbers, that I usually just talk to in class. I'm ready to get back to work."

Asked if he was concerned for his safety, Mazur said. "No, not at all; I actually feel very safe. Actually, I noticed, because I live in the dorms … they've got security guards when you walk in the dorms. You've got to show your ID. They normally have just students checking IDs and now they have security guards. It makes you feel safer that way."

Senior Josh Barnwell said, "It's important to get started again."

On their first day back to class since February 14, many NIU students found themselves stopping at campus message boards to simply read them or write messages of their own.

"I just thought it would be nice to write a note… just to put something on the wall to get my thoughts down," said NIU senior Mark Nieland. 

Junior Olivia Gabrys said, "I wrote 'As we return today, we have five angels looking over us.' Because I know as hard as it's been, everyone comes back knowing that they're a part of us."

But it's not only students who are trying to deal with the emotional trauma. Members of the faculty are obviously hurting too.

"It's tough when you have to go into a class and students are confused and upset and some are scared and you're dealing with many of the same emotions yourself," said political science professor Matt Streb.

Professor Jeffrey Chown is one of many NIU professors that received training in helping their students deal with their anxiety and grief. "I've had a lot of e-mails from students who told me they are intending to come back, but this first week will probably be the roughest I think. … I'm just trying to be open and listen to their concerns. I also have anxiety. I taught in Cole Hall for 26 years so I feel like something was taken away from me as well."

Also on campus Monday were man's best friends Bonnie and Marley. They're among more than a half-dozen so-called comfort dogs brought here by their handlers to give students a chance to show some love.

"Sometimes the kids will just cry with the dogs or they'll just sit down and play with the dogs and they find comfort and security in that," said Linda Rein of Extra Mile Ministry.

"The dogs tend to gravitate to who needs them the most and they'll spend as little or as much time as is needed to reach that person," said Amy Linder of National Animal Assisted Crisis Response.

Marley from Mississippi has done this before -- he offered comfort to students at Virginia Tech.

The head of the counseling operation says he doesn't think things will return to what he calls "the new normal" any time soon. They're taking things one hour at a time.

Classes began at 8 a.m. Monday, following a memorial service attended by more than 12,000 people on Sunday. They took time to remember five lives lost on Feb. 14 when gunman Steven Kazmierczak shot them as they attended class in Cole Hall.

Sunday night's service to honor the victims drew professors, students, and people from a national community that's embraced them.

In this time of mourning, people have said the best way to honor the five victims – Gayle Dubowski, Catalina Garcia, Julianna Gehant, Ryanne Mace, and Dan Parmenter – is to move forward together in their memory.

"This past week, I have seen despair and I have seen hope," NIU President John G. Peters said. "I have seen deep sorrow of the five victims' families, but I have seen your courage and I have seen your strength."

Chown said, "It's a grief process and you have to come out at the other end. You really don't have a choice, you've got to go through it and I think people are bonding together, there's a spirit of unity about this and I think it makes us more human to feel and to think about what has happened."

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said, "Each of us can make the memory of those we lost a blessing by capturing some of their promise, their decency, their innocence, their optimism and holding that next to our hearts."

"I see a tremendous strength in our students," said NIU President John Peters. He said he's optimistic that something good can come from the tragedy. "If one can come out stronger from such a tragedy, I think we are on that path."

The university could not say how many people were taking advantage of the counseling on Monday.

Plans for a permanent memorial for the victims are still in their infancy. The scene of the shooting, Cole Hall, will be closed for the rest of the semester.

CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman, Mike Parker, Dana Kozlov and Katie McCall and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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