onecowfarms1
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this is really getting out of hand !!!! i am just about ready to pull my kids out of grade school and home school them
DEKALB, Ill. -- A gunman opened fire in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University today, injuring several people and sending students screaming and fleeing, authorities said.
"It has been confirmed that there has been a shooting on campus and several people have been taken away by ambulance," officials said in a message posted on the school's Web site.
University Police posted a message on the site by 4:14 p.m. saying the gunman was "no longer a threat" and "the immediate danger has passed."
The Kishwaukee Community Hospital's Web site said that up to 15 victims — three to four with head wounds — were arriving at that hospital this afternoon.
The apparent shooter, a white man with a pistol and shotgun, was reported dead some time after the campus was locked down, around 3:20 p.m. DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott told the Chicago Tribune it is possible the gunman took his own life.
A statement posted at 3:50 p.m. on the NIU website said "several" people had been taken away by ambulance.
At 4:14 p.m., NIU said: "Campus police report that the immediate danger has passed. The gunman is no longer a threat. The DeKalb campus is closed tomorrow. Students can go to any residence hall for counseling."
The (DeKalb) Daily Chronicle, reporting police scanner information, said at least two people were shot. A Daily Chronicle photographer on the scene saw five wounded people going by on stretchers.
WBBM-TV in Chicago, citing police reports, said that at least three people were shot.
According to the Kankakee Daily Journal, more than a dozen people were reported injured. Hospitals in the area were told to expect up to 15 injured people.
The Chicago Tribune reported the DeKalb County coroner's office had reported no fatalities as of 4 p.m.
"Get to a safe area and take precautions until given the all clear," officials said in a message posted on the school's Web site at 3:20 p.m. "Avoid the King Commons and all buildings in that vicinity."
The university was locked down, and students reportedly were calling from the library. Police established a perimeter around Cole Hall, and 15-20 emergency vehicles were in the area.
By 4:31 p.m., the NIU website asked all students to call their parents as soon as possible.
DeKalb is about 65 miles west of Chicago.