Today, February 2nd, a lone gunman assaulted a classroom in near by Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. The latest news reports put 5 killed and 22 injured, not including the gunman who killed himself.
Aside, from the shock of another school shooting, this incident hit close to home. I have family that live in the community of DeKalb and one of them was a first responder to the scene. He said it was complete chaos when he arrived.
Medical assistance was given to the immediate victims, but they later found others that were in hiding. One kid was shot in the back at was able to run into a different building before collapsing. The guy gave an unsettling account of what happened.
I work close to one of the hospitals where two of the victims were sent and seen on of the helicopters come in to land. According to the news, one of the the two did not make it. Eerie to say the least.
A bit cliched but true, the families of the NIU students are in my thoughts and prayers tonight. Nobody should have to endure that situation.
There is a Facebook group, Pray for the students of NIU, that has been active since the incident. If you can leave well wishes there if you would like. There seems to be a bunch of Virginia Tech students commenting offering positive support.
There isn’t any mention in the media about a memorial fund set up for the victims, but I will update this post with a link whenever it is announced. I will be making a donation.
Update: The National Bank and Trust Company has placed a PayPal, donation button on their home page with proceeds going to a memorial fund.
