College Killer Had Long History of Mental Illness

(March 18) -- The 27-year-old graduate student who went on a deadly rampage at Northern Illinois University had a long history of mental illness and may have started on a downward spiral after the death of his mother, a new report by the university said.

On Valentine's Day in 2008, Steven Kazmierczak stepped onto a stage at a lecture hall at NIU's DeKalb campus and opened fire with a shotgun. After firing six rounds, he switched to a semiautomatic pistol, shooting 50 more times.

When he was finished, five people were dead and 21 others wounded. Kazmierczak then turned the gun on himself.

Kazmierczak had held a grudge against the university because of changes to its criminology program, in which he was attempting to earn a master's degree, the report found. But he had become adept at hiding symptoms of his mental illness, and his excellent academic record helped conceal the extent of his problems.

"There were no warning signs Kazmierczak was planning his attack," the report said.

Yet the report notes that Kazmierczak suffered from "schizoaffective disorder," which, according to the Mayo Clinic, is characterized as combination of schizophrenia symptoms, including possible hallucinations or delusions.

"The shooter, Steven Kazmierczak, was mentally ill with a multiplicity of aggravating personality traits that contributed to his heinous crime," the report said.

Between the ages of 16 and 18, Kazmierczak "either engaged in suicidal gestures or attempted to commit suicide seven times," it said.

Growing up in Elk Grove Village in suburban Chicago, Kazmierczak had a volatile relationship with his mother, with whom he shared an affinity for grisly horror films, the report said. Kazmierczak's older sister said he often leveled verbal abuse at his mother and threatened family members with physical violence.

Following his graduation from Elk Grove High School, Kazmierczak was admitted to two psychiatric facilities, where he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, schizoid personality traits and psychosocial stressors, NIU's report said.

But when Kazmierczak enrolled at NIU in 2002, he seemed to adapt well to campus life.

"He concealed his quirks and socially damning qualities and kept mostly to himself," the report said.

Kazmierczak majored in sociology. Several of his professors saw promise in him and encouraged him to continue with his studies. In 2006, he won a dean's award.

"He was the star in our department, the Golden Child. We all knew that one day he would go on to get his master's and his Ph.D. at prestigious universities, become a great success and make us all proud," an unidentified professor is quoted as saying in the report.

The death of Kazmierczak's mother from Lou Gehrig's disease in September 2006 marked the start of series of events that reinflamed his mental condition, the report said. One of those events was a restructuring of the criminology department that put the future of his degree in doubt.

On Feb. 14, 2008, Kazmierczak donned a black T-shirt that bore the word "Terrorist" superimposed over a picture of an assault rifle. He placed a shotgun inside an empty guitar case, concealed a semiautomatic pistol in his pants and then headed to campus.

When the rampage ended, Catalina Garcia, 20, Julianna Gehant, 32, Ryanne Mace, 19, Gayle Dubowski, 20, Daniel Parmenter, 20, and Kazmierczak himself were dead.

University president John Peters said the report was an attempt to discover how such a terrible event could occur.

"While this report reminds us all of our darkest hour," Peters said in the report's introduction, "it also demonstrates the power of a community pulling together in a time of tragedy."