Friday, February 15, 2008

The NIU Shooter: A Sociologist "Off His Meds"

Here's some info:

The gunman has been named unofficially as Steve Kazmierczak, 27. The shooting may have been related to a failed relationship-- with the rampage planned for Valentine's Day.

(Quoting The Telegraph):

Reports said police were investigating the possibility that he was seeking revenge over a failed love affair.

"We are looking at his past relationships to see if there is any connection," one officer is quoted as saying.

"One obvious line of enquiry is to determine whether the choice of Valentine's Day was coincidence or not."

He was an Sociology student:

VICE-PRESIDENT: Steve Mazmierczak. [sic] Steve served as an undergrad teachingaid for Sociology 388 (corrections) and 488 (juvenile delinquency) inspring, 2004. He has strong interests in justice reform and, as an older sociology/criminal justice major, he brings experience and ideas to the group.

My name is Steve Kazmierczak, and I'm a 3rd year student here at NIU. During my sophomore year I served as an aid for the SOCI170 web-board and last semester, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be a team leader for SOCI488-Juvenile Delinquency. Since attending NIU, I've worked very hard as a student, and I know that I would be able to forth the same effort as an officer of the ACA. I feel that I'm committed to social justice, and if elected as treasurer I promise to serve the NIU chapter of the ACA to the best of my ability.

Honors Sociology, too:

Alpha Kappa Delta Sociology Honor Society 2006 Spring Initiations
...Steven Kazmierczak...

And we learn that he had some other problems:

Kazmierczak had recently stopped taking his medication and "had become somewhat erratic," Grady told reporters.

Banning lovelorn Sociology Honors students would be easier than banning guns.

The discussion SHOULD include diagnosed mental problems being an impediment to (legal) gun purchases; however, the benefit of the doubt should be given to the Second Amendment's clear mandate.

HT: GatewayPundit via Malkin, Texas Hold'em

4 comments:

  1. Is this a generational thing? There was a spurt of shootings in middle schools and high schools a few years back, (when was the last one at a school?)

    Years later we have a spurt of shootings involving young adults.

    I am certainly not a sociologist, put as a layperson there does seem to be a pattern with a certain generation of young men. They seem to have moved beyond high school (omaha, colorado, crandon, virginia tech).

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  2. This wacko is not a well-regulated militia.

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  3. Dad-

    Brace yourself, we finally agree on something. Of course, I was calling out the importance of psych evals way back in October after the Crandon slayings.

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  4. Concerned NIU Parent

    The events last Thurs at NIU make me sad and angry that my child, the parents of the shooting victims, and all the other students and faculty at NUI had to suffer this tragedy. I feel that if the truth is ever figured at that the doctor that put Steven on those meds is partially to blame and this tragedy is the result of a bad diagnosis on his part.


    My guess instead of a depressed person with compulsive obsessive disorder what he should have been treated for was bipolar disorder. The drug combination if Steven was bipolar would have been like pouring gas on a fire causing uncontrollable rage.

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