Shooting

Today's campus shooting took place at my college, Northern Illinois University. I spent 11 years on that campus, as an undergrad, a grad student, and living just off campus and working in town. I walked through Cole Hall a million times. The buildings in that part of campus are all interconnected, you can cross half the campus without going more than a few feet outside. A very good path to know on those rainy, snowy, icy cold winter days in Illinois.

I've had several classes in the auditoriums in Cole Hall. Most students take a few gen ed classes in there. Remember a few weeks ago when I said I'd turned in a girl for cheating on a Statistics exam? It was in that same auditorium that she'd had the guy take her exam for her.

I've exchanged IMs with one of the best friends I've ever had and he's okay. He works on campus still. We worked together for a few years while I was in grad school. I couldn't picture a scenario that would have taken him to Cole Hall in the afternoon, unless of course he was walking across campus escaping the weather or meeting a friend. He wasn't there, he's safe.

I saw the mom of our day camp director from last summer at tonight's Girl Scout service unit meeting. Our camp director is a student there. She is fine. I gave the mom a hug to give to her when she gets home, hopefully she came on home tonight. Her mom was a wreck.

I know a lot of others who are on campus too, but those are the two I'm currently closest to.

I know this sort of thing can happen absolutely anywhere, anytime. And it does. But wow, when it hits your back yard it is scary. I always thought of NIU's campus as a safe place. Sure there are places you don't want to be alone at night. It isn't a good idea to walk to any parking lot or dorm alone after a night class, on any campus. But 3 o'clock on a Thursday afternoon in a classroom building? I'd never have felt any qualms about that.

When we lived off campus (Mr. Incredible and I met there, fell in love and lived there after we were married) we'd sometimes hear gun shots late at night. There's always been a lot of gang activity on campus. The proximity to the interstate out of Chicago was attractive for drug trafficking. Gang activity was Mr. Incredible's first thought when we heard the news about an hour after it happened. That isn't what happened though.

Will anyone ever know what happened? Or why? Why so many shootings at schools, malls, government offices? What is wrong with our society?