Trying to understand a breakdown with Kazmierczak’s girlfriend
Steven Kazmierczak lost his grip with right and wrong at some point before he died. He spent almost all of his life being a law-abiding citizen. His girlfriend has yet to discover when the break occurred. “He was NEVER EVER violent or aggressive,” Jessica Baty said.
In the small amount of interaction I had with Steve as a classmate, he hardly seemed like the violent type. He was tall and rail thin. His voice was small, sort of whinny. He was not very assertive when stronger personalities like myself spoke up. When he did speak though, his intelligence was evident in his comments.
Though most people didn’t see Steve’s potential for violence, there were signs of a potential violent outbreak.
Several different factors have been explored as to why this tragedy occurred. All have some merit but don’t seem to answer the question.
The tattoos that this troubled young man got in the last year of his life disturbed me. Maybe there was a break from reality. The love of these horror movies may have evolved from enjoying artful film to envying the extent of control that the villain can exert.
Steve’s girlfriend Jessica discounts the theory that the recent tattoos were a sign of problems.
“Tattoos were not out of character for him,” she said. “It’s something that we did together, got tattoos. The new tattoos were about stuff he liked-he liked horror movies, so he got representative tattoos. I’m a girl, so i got flowers and butterflies.”
I helped write the now infamous article that sited Kazmierczak’s hours of playing the violent video game Counterstrike. I have stated that picking the video game angle, as the editor did, was sensational journalism that disregarded the truth that video games had nothing to do with Steve’s actions.
Kazmierczak was said to be on Ambien, Xanax and Prozac. Reports are asking about the significance of abruptly stopping a Prozac regimen and whether the reported low serotonin lull could have contributed. We definitely are over-medicated as a society.
The person closest to Steve, his girlfriend, could not find any signs that a break was coming. Maybe she was too close to see what was in front of her. Maybe she was in denial.
“He did not let me know what was going on in his head,” Baty said. “If i had any idea that he was even thinking about doing that, I would have intervened. No one could have helped him because he didn’t want to be helped.”
There was no indication to Baty that he was acting “erratic” as NIU Police Chief Donald Grady later famously stated. She later denied that characterization.
“He was perfectly normal; told me that he would see me on Valentine’s Day and that he loved me. He promised me that he would be home in time for class. I believed him,” Baty said.
Baty said that Kazmierczak did not hold ill will toward NIU and she didn’t know why he chose to return to DeKalb. Though he did help teach a class in Cole Hall, there was no indication as to why he picked that classroom at that time. Some friends close to him have stated that he was upset that the Criminology curriculum at NIU had been scaled back.
NIU has expectedly said that enrollment will not change in the coming years. Though we may not ultimately know what motivated or caused this incident, this university will be stronger.
Tags: colehall, jessicabaty, kazmierczak, motive, niushooting
March 12th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
This is an article about another shooter from years ago, Benjamin Smith:
http://www.cnn.com/US/9907/05/illinois.shootings.02/
He was a racist which is different than the NIU shooter, but there seem to be a couple of similarities. I am sure the FBI behavior profilers remembered Smith.
A friend of mine was one of Smith’s professors at Indiana University. He questioned his grades frequently in her class. Her department chair asked her to document encounters with him, not because he might be a violent threat but because they expected that he would appeal his grade after the semester ended. Smith was a problem of some sort at the University of Illinois but Indiana University was not aware of any of that when he transfered. My friend knew he was a problem but she did not predict violence. She was not ever physically injured but she felt so bad about what Smith did that she quit teaching and moved far away from Indiana University. I think she blamed herself. She knew Smith was a problem but never imagined that he would kill people.
Even if a friend, relative, co-worker, student, etc. may be acting a little off, most people are not going to know what might be warning signs. All of us could use some education as to what to do if someone is a little off.
With more education, more understanding can become possible with mental illness. The NIU shooter reportedly did not like to think of himself as mentally ill and did not like to take his medicine. Well, if more people understood that mental illness can be like a medical illness, not unlike heart disease, cancer, or diabetes, then perhaps there would not be such a negative stigma associated with it. Too many people know something is wrong with them but they do not want to get treatment because they do not want to get labeled. Attitudes toward mental illness can be reshaped, and getting more people education about it may be easier than tangling with the gun lobby over gun control.
March 13th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I figured maybe he started getting tattoos either to cover up scars from his cutting days or perhaps as an extension of the cutting behavior.
You are on the right track to question the abrupt stopping of Prozac–it makes me shudder–but in seeking answers you should also learn as much as you can about cutting. People cut either to a) feel something because they are living in a fog of numbness or b) to attempt to transform their psychic pain into physical pain. Some bounce back and forth between the two.
They NEED to do it. It works, making it self-reinforcing. Many people who cut say it keeps them from killing themselves. It keeps them alive. In fact, nowadays most intervention strategies concentrate at first on teaching anatomy and first aid to keep the cutters as safe as possible, not on stopping the practice. Over time the person learns different ways to deal with these feelings, which reduces the need to cut.
So what you have here is a person who was uncomfortably close to offing himself for a big chunk of his life. The suicide is not surprising. The biggest problem is making the leap from suicidal thoughts to whatever popped up as a good reason for taking others with him.