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Steven Kazmierczak

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Steven Phillip Kazmierczak
BornAugust 1980
Elk Grove Village, Illinois, USA
DiedFebruary 14, 2008 (aged 27)
DeKalb, Illinois, USA
Cause of deathSelf-inflicted gunshot
EducationGraduate student
Known forNorthern Illinois University shooting

Steven Phillip "Steve" Kazmierczak (August 1980 – February 14, 2008) was the gunman of the Northern Illinois University shootings.[1][2] He graduated from the university in 2006, and had been enrolled as a graduate student in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since the spring of 2007. He was 27 when he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing five and wounding sixteen other people.[3][4]

Early life and education

A native of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, Kazmierczak graduated from Elk Grove High School in 1998 and went on to study sociology at Northern Illinois University (NIU). Though his family moved to Florida in 2004, Kazmierczak continued his education at NIU.[5][6]

He enlisted in the United States Army in September 2001; he was discharged before completing basic training in February 2002, for unknown reasons.[7]

His mother, Gail, died in Lakeland, Florida in September 2006 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease).[8][9][10] At the time of Steven's death, his father, Robert, was living in a retirement community in Lakeland.[9]

Kazmierczak graduated from NIU in 2006.[5] He had received the Dean's award from NIU in 2006 and was considered a stand-out, well-regarded student.[5] Campus police describe him as a "fairly normal" and "unstressed person."[11] Faculty, students, and staff "revered" him and there was no indication of any trouble.[12] NIU President John G. Peters said that he had "a very good academic record, no record of trouble."[6] Kazmierczak was Vice-President of the NIU chapter of the American Correctional Association (he had also written on the U.S. correctional system, specifically prisons).[13]

He was enrolled at NIU in the spring of 2007,[5] where he took two courses in Arabic and a course called ""Politics of the Middle East". His research paper was on the subject of Hamas and its social service projects[14]. He left to begin graduate work in the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he intended to study mental health issues. He was enrolled part-time at UIUC during the fall of 2007 and worked from September 24 through October 9 at the Rockville Correctional Facility for Women near the Illinois-Indiana border. His reasons for leaving were unclear; he simply, "did not come back to work," according to Doug Garrison of the Indiana Department of Correction. By early 2008, he was again enrolled full time at UIUC.[7]

Publications

In 2006, Kazmierczak, along with two other graduate students and under the lead authorship of a sociology professor, co-authored an academic paper entitled, "Self-injury in Correctional Settings: 'Pathology' of Prisons or of Prisoners?"; it was published in the academic journal Criminology & Public Policy.[15]

Biographical information in the abstract of the paper describes Kazmierczak as:[15]

"Beginning graduate work at Northern Illinois University. In addition to his interests in corrections, political violence, and peace and social justice, he is co-authoring a manuscript on the role of religion in the formation of early prisons in the United States with Jim Thomas and Josh Stone. He also develops content for online education and is an executive board officer of the NIU student chapter of the American Correctional Association".

NIU shooting

Main article: Northern Illinois University shooting

Kazmierczak died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing five and wounding sixteen in a rampage at NIU on February 14, 2008.[3][4] ABC News reports that his behavior seemed to become more erratic in the weeks leading up to the shooting, and that it is believed he stopped taking medication beforehand. [7] His girlfriend, Jessica Baty, confirmed that Kazmierczak was taking Xanax (anti-anxiety), Ambien (sleep aid), and Prozac (antidepressant), all of which were prescribed to him by a psychiatrist. She said that he stopped taking Prozac about three weeks prior to the February 14 shooting. She also said that, during their two-year courtship, she had never seen him display violent tendencies and she expressed bewilderment over the cause of the rampage. "He was anything but a monster," Baty said. "He was probably the nicest, most caring person ever."[16] Since the shooting, authorities have intercepted a number of packages he sent to her, which included such items as a gun holster and bullets, a textbook on serial killers for her class, the book The Antichrist by Friedrich Nietzsche, and a final note written for her, signed with his first AND last name.[17] The shooting was baffling to those who knew him, as he appeared outgoing and never appeared to have social problems. This has also confused investigators, who have not found a suicide note.[18]

Some of Kazmierczak's former NIU roommates described him as a quiet man who usually stayed to himself. They stated that, while fairly normal, they did not see him spend much time with other students. In an interview after the shooting, his former roommates also said that they would often find him playing the video game Counter-Strike, a first-person shooting game, but they were also quick to add that the game was commonly played by others in the same dormitory hall and not considered an unusual pasttime.[19][20]

References

  1. ^ Pallasch, Abdon K.; Fusco, Chris; Main, Frank; McKinney, Dave; Esposito, Stefano. "Portrait of a killer." Chicago Sun Times. February 16, 2008. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
  2. ^ Nizza, Mike; Saulny, Susan; Davey, Monica; Johnson, Dirk; Einhorn, Catrin; Bowley, Graham; Holusha, John. "Suspect in Campus Attack Is Identified." New York Times. February 15, 2008. Retrieved on February 15, 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Source IDs alleged campus gunman who killed 7". CNN. 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  4. ^ a b "Gunman Planned Campus Shooting For At Least Six Days". ABC. 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  5. ^ a b c d David Heinzmann and Stacy St. Clair (2008-02-14). "NIU noted gunman's scholarship". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-02-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b Heinzmann, David; St. Clair, Stacy. "Illinois gunman was honored student." Los Angeles Times. February 15, 2008. Retrieved on February 15, 2008.
  7. ^ a b c Friedman, Emily. "Who Was the Illinois School Shooter?." ABC News. February 15, 2008. Retrieved on February 15, 2008.
  8. ^ Social Security Death Index maintained by Ancestry.Com. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
  9. ^ a b Gunman previously honored by school, February 15, 2008, Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
  10. ^ Staff Writer. "A Killer Who Fit In: Kazmierczak Profiled." [nbc5.com/. February 15, 2008. Retrieved on February 19, 2008.
  11. ^ Friedman, Emily (2008-02-15). "Who Was the Illinois School Shooter?". ABC News. Retrieved 2008-02-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Bohn, Kevin. "Company: Gunman, Virginia Tech shooter used same Web dealer." CNN. February 15, 2008. Retrieved on February 15, 2008.
  13. ^ David Heinzmann, David; Smith, Gerry; Zorn, Eric. "NIU gunman's baffling trail reveals no motive." Chicago Tribune. February 16, 2008. Retrieved on February 20, 2008.
  14. ^ NIU grad recalls shooter as inquisitive, smart, nice The Chicago Sun-Times Feb 20, 2008
  15. ^ a b Thomas, Jim; Leaf, Margaret; Kazmierczak, Steve; Stone, Josh. "Self-Injury In Correctional Settings: 'Pathology' of Prisons or of Prisoners?." Criminology & Public Policy, February 2006, Vol. 5, Iss. 1, 192-202. Retrieved on February 15, 2008. (doi:10.1111/j.1745-9133.2006.00111.x)
  16. ^ Boudreau, Abbie; Zamost, Scott. "Girlfriend: Shooter was taking cocktail of 3 drugs." CNN. February 20, 2008. Retrieved on February 20, 2008.
  17. ^ "University shooter's girlfriend: 'I couldn't believe it'". CNN. 2008-02-18. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  18. ^ Pallasch, Abdon K.; Korecki, Natasha; Herrmann, Andrew. "Gunman 'somewhat erratic'." Chicago Sun Times. February 16, 2008. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
  19. ^ Swiontek, Michael; Sanderson, Bill. "College killer crazy for violent vid game." New York Post. February 16, 2008. Retreived on February 21, 2008.
  20. ^ Cramer, Kevin P.; Foster, Regan. "Killer was ‘a quiet, smarter kid’." Northwest Herald. February 16, 2008. Retrieved on February 21, 2008.
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