NIU Needs Answers

By Sam Brunell

Could this be real? Was it a joke? A drill?

He never really stopped shooting. I couldn’t take my eyes of him. When he got closer to the aisle (which was in my direct path), reality kicked in. I dropped to my knees and laid flat on the hard, cold floor taking cover under the not-so-comfortable hard lecture seats.

It was 1:30 p.m. on February 14, 2008.

I was sitting in my dorm room with Mike and Justin. I had been religiously checking blackboard to see if my Geol 104 test grade had been posted. It was fairly cold outside and I had been in classes since 8, so I really didn’t want to go outside, to yet another class.

Mike was telling me just to ditch, which was kind of funny because my mom said I could leave after my 12:15 class and head home before the predicted snow. But no, me being an “over-achiever”, I had to go to class in case the instructor passed our tests back. I had studied way too hard to risk not seeing my test grade as soon as possible.

Around 1:40 p.m., I met up with a girl I went to high school with, also in my Geol 104 class. She was telling me how our friend, also in the class, was ditching to be with this girl for Valentine’s Day. Both of us kept saying how dumb it was for him to ditch classes for a stupid holiday with a girl who we weren’t even sure was his official girlfriend.

By the time we got to Cole, Grace (another one of our friends in class from Warren) had called to see where we were. She too was anxious to see if he’d pass out tests out. For some reason, we walked in a little later than usual so our normal center row seats toward the back were taken. Instead, we chose to sit even closer.

As usual, Grace kicked off her boots and I began to get comfortable as well. I sat between Grace and Preeti so I could give them valentines and tell them about this guy I had interviewed for my story out in that day’s paper.

Right as class began, three guys sat right in front of us. I was absolutely livid. The largest of the three sat in front of me. Out of all the empty seats in the lecture hall, why would they choose to block our view?

Regardless of my anger toward this mystery boy, I was still in an amazing mood. After class I was going to see and hopefully sign a lease for an apartment with one of my best friends, Mike. Plus, I was texting the kid from my article, who seemed pretty nice.

The majority of class I was leaning side to side so I could see the Powerpoint. After I had written the notes down I pulled out the crossword and soduko puzzles from the Northern Star. So, I sat, trying to figure out the damn crossword puzzle which always got me mad, but it beat trying to see the Powerpoint past the mystery guy. I would periodically just copy Grace’s notes.

At one point my phone had almost fallen off of my lap, which would not have been good because everything sounds 10 times louder in the auditorium. So rather than being a good student and putting it away, I set it on the desktop. My mom and I usually text though out the day so I always make sure to keep my phone visible.

As time went on I became so uncomfortable in those stupid hard seats in Cole so I’d check the clock just about every 5 minutes to see when class would finally be out. For a while I became pretty interested in the lecture; we were talking about ooze of all things. Go figure, the mystery boy readjusted himself, completely blocking my view this time. That, is when I officially gave up on paying attention.

I got a glimpse of the clock in the upper right corner of the stage and it read 3 p.m. Only 15 minutes until we got out of class!

I chose to occupy the final time by attempting to finish the crossword. I found a clue I thought I knew the answer to.

Right as I went to see if it fit in the boxes, there was an explosive boom. I perked my head up to see what it was, and go figure, I could not see a thing.

Within the blink of an eye people around me had disappeared, which is when HE appeared. I didn’t know what was happening. I just sat there staring at this tall, slinky figure, emotionless in the face.

He was holding a large gun, continuously shooting at random places (or people). At that point, my only focus was on him. The gunshots turned into faint noises and I could not hear nor see anything but him.

I continued to sit there, watching as he walked across the stage shooting the long gun, then eventually dropping it and pulling out what appeared to be a handgun.

Could this be real? Was it a joke? A drill? Somehow I had ended up closer to the aisle, later finding out Grace had pushed me out of my original seat after the initial boom.

He never really stopped shooting. I couldn’t take my eyes of him. When he got closer to the aisle (which was in my direct path), reality kicked in. I dropped to my knees and laid flat on the hard, cold floor taking cover under the not-so-comfortable hard lecture seats.

I locked eyes with a girl I would later re-unite with. I eventually began to army crawl to the last row of seats, which seemed like a split second.

That’s when I had to make a life or death decision. Should I remain under the seats and take cover? Or stand up and make a run for it out of the lecture hall?

The adrenaline must have kicked in and I stood up and literally ran for my life. I never looked back. As time goes on I discover more information which helps put my jigsaw puzzle of a memory back together.

I will always question why I chose to risk driving home in the snow that night, because the last time I had driven in the snow my car had spun out sending Grace and I (same Grace) into the highway median. I thought that was my near-death experience. I was wrong.

How did Shaun’s (the boy who chose to ditch class for his “girlfriend”) decision inevitably save his life? Usually when Mike tells me to do something I do it. Last time he told me to do something I ended up eating a blazin’ wing at Bdubbs which was a BIG mistake.

Why couldn’t I have simply ditched that one class? Being an over-achiever used to always have its benefits, so why did making a responsible academic choice ultimately result in my life being at extreme risk? Maybe I was destined to witness such a horrific thing to make me stronger. Maybe God felt as if I didn’t appreciate life enough?

The question of “WHY” lingers throughout my mind each and everyday. “WHY” did I choose to go to class? “WHY” didn’t I get shot like the kids around me? “WHY” did I ultimately escape this near-death experience? “WHY” did he choose my class?

There were multiple other classes going on, yet he came to my Ocean Science class that wasn’t even completely filled.

When talking to Shaun, he seems just as confused as I am about how he nearly escaped his potential death by choices he had made earlier.

One day I’ll figure out why I made those choices, but for now, I’m going to thank God that he was watching over me on that cold, spine-chilling day.

Tags: dekalb, niu, niushooting

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 at 4:22 am and is filed under 1st Hand Accounts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.