I packed up my laptop and book as other students around me wondered whether they should leave their materials and hurry. We weren’t quite sure what to do, as although there was no police officer shouting orders, the situation, if true, was not to be taken lightly.

In the law library, rumors were rampant. The gunman was still walking around campus. The gunman was down. 4 people injured. 18 people injured. Countless people were getting cell phone calls from friends and relatives with varying news accounts; that was the problem.

What we did know, and could see, was three sheriff’s deputies, with lights flashing, park their cars across the street from the law school. We watched them put on their bulletproof vests and assemble their weapons. A vague sense of fear could be felt across the law students who rushed toward the window to see this. Some of us checked chicagotribune.com. We found the now well-circulated photo of someone’s body being carted away across Normal Road…the street that was right outside our building.

We were given a vague “all-clear” at 4:21 PM. Still a little uncertain, given the decidedly slow unraveling of details, I walked with 4 friends to the parking garage. I had parked one of the side streets around campus, so I was trying to catch a ride with a friend back to my car. As the parking garage line didn’t move for 20 minutes, and me having a doctor’s appointment later on, I gave up and walked the four blocks back to my car amidst the whirring of news choppers overhead. The highway going eastbound (I-88) moved decidedly fast, given the circumstances, but I counted at least 13 police cars headed west. I am told that Lincoln Highway, the major artery outside the university, was completely jammed.

As an NIU student, I don’t seek fame or sympathy by typing this. I’m mostly just talking about this because it was a little shaky for everyone on campus and I wanted to get it out. The biggest emotion emphasized by people that I talked to was anger, and this will likely only grow in the coming days. So many questions: how the hell did this guy walk by everyone untouched? Who the hell was he? What was his motive (still unknown at this time)? Why would anyone do something this crazy? What would possess anyone…?

For our law school’s Second Amendment society, this will undoubtedly serve as fodder for further debate about whether there should be more laws favoring concealed carry. “See, someone could’ve taken him out,” was overheard yesterday as we were leaving. My personal politics suggest that this is far from the answer, but I’m more interested in knowing what a lot of people are probably interested in knowing: did anyone see this event coming and could anything have been done to reach this guy?

More disturbing details have been released suggesting that the shooter might have been a student at U of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and that he had family in Florida. Both facts make me personally question why, if he had any grudge against anyone or anything at NIU, he would then even bother coming back to act on it. I can’t imagine what would make such a senseless killing worthwhile to him. It makes the entire situation even less sensible.

I thank you, Suss, for your sympathy for NIU students, the victims, and their families. Certainly, all of us are sending our thoughts and prayers their way. Sports are indeed secondary at times like these, and thoughts of competition should be replaced by thoughts of how we can make this troubled world a better place. I have emphasized in my old blog many times how I’d like to see some different approach to curing the problems of these school shootings or plots that seem to pop up every day now. More than ever, I beg someone to seek answers to these problems.