Hi Cheryl - I was saddened by the story on the news. When I see a post from a cyber-friend after a tragedy, it makes the world seem so small and as if the tragedy happened in my own back yard. I cannot imagine how you must be feeling being a part of this incident and knowing people who personally witnessed what happened. I think that it is something you must go through to obtain a true understanding. Have you contacted NIU about the counseling they are offering? They have top-notched specialists that come to help you work through this type of traumatizing event. A group meeting is very beneficial because you can actually talk with people feeling the same anxieties you are experiencing. You'll find that is not uncommon. If you don't get a chance to express your feelings and work them out it can have a lasting effect on you, which you don't need as a part of your life. A year after 9/11 folks were finding they needed to get counseling for post traumatic stress syndrome and just got signed up for help. These weren't only the people that witnessed the event but all over the country. I'm sure a lot of what you are going through is just a part of the grieving process which takes time to lessen. Time is the only medicine when grief is involved. As far as your personal safety, IMHO, I feel that everyone around you will have a sense of 'high alert' and will watch out over one another like they have never done before. NIU should be instituting heightened security measures to help all of you feel more secure and protected. If you need to be there after hours, the buddy system is a wonderful tool. If there isn't a security guard on hand, just having a girlfriend to walk with relieves so much of the stress. I wish you all the best, I'm sorry you have had to be a part of this experience.

Latest new report says the shooter had been a graduate student, but was not enrolled for this semester. The same report said he had two pistols and a shotgun, but had used only one of the pistols. The police has recovered only one of the pistols - whereabout of the other pistol is unknown at this writing. One report said one of the pistols was a Glock. One of the wounded, taken to the hospital, has died. Other Information: Northern Illinois University is at DeKalb, IL. Normal Ill. Univ. is much farther south at Bloomington/Normal, IL. After the state of ILlinois was organized, about 5 teacher colleges were established scattered over the state. These were to produce teachers for grammar (grades 1-8) schools, or Normal schools. One of these was the teacher college at Normal, IL; another was at Charleston, IL. That was many years ago, and today, a number of those colleges have grown into Universities. The town of DeKalb, IL is named after Baron DeKalb, a mercinary who fought on the side of the new United States against Great Britian in the Revolutionary War. Baron DeKalb, as he called himself, was German born and a soldier for hire living in France. He came with Lafaette and his armada of ships when Lafaette came to the aid of George Washington. DeKalb was presented to Congress and given a title of Brigdier General and immediatly sent off to war. DeKalb did not live long thereafter; He was killed in an military engagement. A monument was errected in his honor, the only foreign national so honored in that war. Baron DeKalb was not a real Baron by royal decree. It was a title that he gave himself since he believed that he deserved this title owning to military services that he had performed. Information on Baron DeKalb can be found in the World Book Encyclopedia.

we will never get a ban on all guns, it's unfortunate but true :-/ We can get a ban on clips, magazines and drums and some semi-automatics and enact other laws for mental health, liability of ownership, enforce existing laws not being followed (severe punishments for lying on applications) and stop exemptions from background checks at gun shows. banning all guns is too late, the horse is out of the barn and in the next country by now, chicago is a great example of that. I do think that making the ammo for semi-automatics cost hundreds of $$ will end alot of drive-bys and mass shootings, if people want to waste to time to reload their own bullets there is nothing you can do to stop that thou. I do support legal, responsible gun ownership of non semi-automatics with some laws applied. in some states you may only have 3 bullets in your gun for hunting, I believe GA is one of them. why have rules like that for hunters (which are ok by me) but allow semi-automatics to be used to shooting people? that is crazy! we need to make gun owners legally liable for what happens w their own guns and force them to take proper precautions (safety locks and real gun safes) in order to keep their rights. they need reminding that severe laws restricting their gun rights are just a pen writing away thru executive order! the Conn shooters mother got what she deserved for having hundreds of rounds of ammo laying around, multiple guns including semi-automatics also left out when she had known for years her son had mental problems. I can't think of a more appropriate end for her, she is exactly what the NRA would love to sweep under the carpet. we have all sorts of rules & regulations for getting a driver's license & owning a car, we should have similiar tests of ability, liability insurance and renewal laws concerning guns. things will be changing in this country, if you don't believe it you must have missed what happened on Nov 6 when the largest ground game ever organized in US history changed things forever. my focaus had already turned to 2014 but for now I am using my time and $$ for this cause. Can you just imagine how we can change the culture of violence in this country if we all want to imagine a future w/o it! in the last year, who really has not had a twinge of concern (even if it's just a thought) going to a mall or movie theatre now...that is a culture of fear & violence. ~ liz

As a mental health professional who works with kids, my experience has been that unfortunately even when there are neon signs about a child's potential for gun violence, it can be very challenging to get anything in place to ensure safety. Here are two examples from my own work in the past few years. A high schooler is referred to me after he was found by police to be skipping school, firing rifles in an abandoned house. This boy has had multiple referrals to mental health services since elementary school, due to a history of learning differences, impulsive outbursts, poor social skills, and being bullied. Over the course of working with him, I learn the following: he was named for a famous Nazi commander and his parents have raised him on a diet of "white pride". He attends a majority African-American high school after moving from an almost all-white community in another state (where he was bullied throughout elementary and middle school for social skill deficits and for his looks). He states he is uncomfortable at his school because of all the minorities and has no friends. His house is full of guns and his parents tell me they believe that he will make good decisions about using the guns and refuse to limit his access. They hope that hunting will help him be more manly, says dad. The father is often out of the home for days due to work, and the mother is so afraid of the young man's aggressive meltdowns if she tries to get him to do anything other than play video games that she no longer interferes in his daily activities. Are you worried yet? I sure was. But parents were only concerned about him skipping school because they did not want to go to truancy court. So, nothing was done. I reported everything I could in an attempt to force the parents to continue mental health treatment. They responded by moving to another state. Wash, rinse repeat. Not a shortage of mental health services, but a refusal by parents to utilize them. Second case: A young man was referred to me because he reported to another therapist that his goal was to be a school shooter. This boy had a high IQ and a long history of negative behavior at home and at school. He had no friends or social contacts outside his family and had not since elementary school. Significant mental health history on both parents' sides. This family had lots of financial resources and used them to remove the boy from trouble by changing schools, going/sending him abroad for long stretches of time, and manipulating which school he attended by pretending to live where they did not. He was hospitalized more than once because his parents were afraid to remain in the home with him when he was angry, and due to his victimization of younger brothers. My recommendations for treatment were brushed aside by the parents, and this student had no regular treatment provider during the years he was at our school, just prescriptions from his hospital stays. Parents felt like his diagnoses were not correct but would not take him to the service most likely (in our area) to provide an in-depth evaluation and diagnosis. My belief is that parents did not want in-depth therapy to delve into other issues in the home and this was the rationale for the constant shifting of services. Again, not a shortage of services, not a case where nobody noticed. I liked the Evan video, but I feel so discouraged that even when we do see the young man with the rejecting attitude, problem with bullies, and gun obsession we can't get anyone involved to do anything about it unless parents will take it seriously.