[3] The school placed the campus on lockdown; students and teachers were advised to head to a secure location, take cover, and avoid the scene and all buildings in the vicinity of the area.

[7][12][13] One witness reported that the gunman shot "at least" 30 rounds, with police later confirming that they had collected 48 cartridge cases and 6 shotgun shells.

NIU Police Chief Donald Grady described him as "an outstanding student" who reportedly had stopped taking psychiatric medication recently and became "somewhat erratic.

Driving northbound on Normal Road near Swen Parson Hall, they encountered students running east from the Martin Luther King Commons area.

In the MLK Commons, Chief Grady advised the officers to immediately begin attending to victims and identify witnesses and direct them to a room in Holmes Student Center, where they could be interviewed.

[17] While Henert established perimeters around Cole Hall, Mitchell and Grady entered the building, where they met with Holland, Ellington, and Wright.

Grady, Mitchell, Ellington, and Wright entered the south auditorium, discovering a body on the stage, surrounded by guns, with a pool of blood coming from the head.

"[5] At the same time that officers arrived at Cole Hall, Sergeant Rodman, who had left a meeting at the Holmes Student Center, arrived at the west entrance of that building to find a shooting victim who had been shot in the back and the head, along with another victim who had blood on the face, seeking help for his injured friend.

[21] At 3:34 p.m., after a sweep of Founders Library was conducted and officers determined that Neptune and DuSable were not shooting sites, they declared the area safe.

[7] Six people, all residents of Illinois, were killed by Kazmierczak:[16][24] Catalina Garcia, Juliana Gehant, Ryanne Mace, and shooter Steven Kazmierczak were declared dead on the scene at Cole Hall, while Daniel Parmenter was pronounced dead shortly after arrival to Kishwaukee Hospital at 4:00 p.m. Gayle Dubowski was flown to the nearest trauma center, St. Anthony Hospital in Rockford, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at 4:14 p.m.[25] 21 people survived the incident with injuries.

[34][35] He enlisted in the United States Army in September 2001, and was discharged before completing basic training in February 2002 for lying on his application about his mental illness.

[36][37] His mother died in Lakeland, Florida, in September 2006 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS).

He was enrolled part-time at the University of Illinois during the fall of 2007 and worked from September 24 through October 10 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.

[46][47] 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.

[37] His girlfriend confirmed that Kazmierczak was taking Xanax (anti-anxiety), Ambien (sleep aid), and Prozac (antidepressant), all of which were prescribed to him by a psychiatrist.

[49] After the shooting, authorities intercepted a number of packages he sent to her, which included such items as a gun holster and ammunition, 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 given name and family name.

[53] According to a report published by the United States Fire Administration, Kazmierczak is believed to have studied Virginia Tech perpetrator Seung-Hui Cho's actions and used a similar modus operandi.

[59] Approximately 2,000 gathered on campus on the evening of Friday, February 15, for a candlelight vigil to commemorate the victims; among other public figures, Jesse Jackson and Robert W. Pritchard spoke.

On February 21, exactly a week after the shooting happened, five minutes of silence were observed from 3:06–3:11 p.m. CST, accompanied by the tolling of bells throughout the community, at a special ceremony attended by thousands in memory of the victims which was held at the MLK Commons.

[63][64] The Chicago Blackhawks NHL franchise wore NIU Huskies decals on their helmets during their game on Sunday, February 17, 2008, versus the Colorado Avalanche.

[69] Jon Bon Jovi offered his condolences in a Billboard magazine article after his band Bon Jovi was forced to cancel rehearsals slated to begin on February 14, 2008, at the NIU Convocation Center in preparation for the North American leg of the Lost Highway Tour.

[70] The Chicago-based Jam/Prog Rock band Umphrey's McGee played a benefit show at the Egyptian Theater on April 8, 2008, for the NIU Memorial Fund.

[71] On February 25, 2008, then-governor Rod Blagojevich and university president John G. Peters proposed the demolition of the current Cole Hall.

This decision was made based on conversations between Dr. Peters and members of the campus community as well as the results of an online survey taken by students and faculty.

[75] On January 27, 2010, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn came to the NIU campus to release the funds for the renovation of Cole Hall.

On October 2, 2009, a metal sculpture designed by artist Bruce Niemi entitled Remembered was unveiled at Northern Illinois University.

[76] The sculpture is part of a garden built in remembrance of the victims of the NIU shooting, located directly across from Cole Hall.

[77] The campus was shut down on December 10, 2007, the first day during exam week, after graffiti was found on a restroom wall warning of a possible shooting.

A university spokesman said that the warning, which was discovered December 10, made reference to the Virginia Tech massacre, in which 33 people were killed, but it could not be immediately determined whether the threat was related to the shootings on February 14, 2008.