Gunman shoots 17 people at Northern Illinois University

THE death toll from a shooting at a US university today is now six, with four of the victims being female, the university president has said.

Dr John Peters spoke to reporters at the scene of the Valentine's Day massacre at Northern Illinois University's DeKalb campus outside Chicago.

He said four people, including the gunman, died at the scene, and two died later at the hospital.

Another 16 people were injured.

The gunman, who was described as a white male about 6ft (180 cm) tall, used a shotgun and two handguns, Police Chief Donald Grady told CNN.

Packed classroom

One student told local radio that roughly 100 students were in the classroom when the man stood up and opened fire.

Other witnesses said bloodied victims were hit by buckshot.

The 25,000-student campus, which is 100km west of Chicago, was shut down and classes cancelled, the university said on its website.

Gunman stood on stage

"He was aiming towards the crowd but I don't think he was aiming at a specific person," a witness named Sheila told WBBM radio.

"He was quiet. He just stood on the stage in front of everybody and just started shooting.

"I saw him holding the gun and it was huge. I thought it was fake and then I realised he was really shooting at people and I got down.

"I saw a lot of blood. I have blood all over my clothes."

Mass panic

A student told of the panic as people tried to flee.

Jillian Martinez told the Chicago Tribune she was sitting in the back of the class when the gunman suddenly “appeared” and began shooting.

“There's this door in the lecture hall nobody ever goes through,” she said.

“I remember seeing it open, and thought it was weird that somebody had opened the door.

“All of a sudden, there was someone standing there.”

She said the man then began his rampage.

"All I saw was the flash of shooting.

"He pulled out his gun, he just started shooting at all the kids. He just started shooting at people, and I ran out of there as fast as I could."

The shooting came 10 months after 32 students and faculty were shot down by a mentally disturbed student at Virginia Tech University in the deadliest massacre ever at a US school.

Northern Illinois University, chartered in 1895, is a teaching and research institution with nearly 1300 teachers. It has 862 international students from 88 nations.

With Reuters and AFP
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23217812-401,00.html