NIU gunman stopped taking medication
Feb. 15, 2008

By CARYN ROUSSEAU and DEANNA BELLANDI Associated Press Writers
© 2008 The Associated Press

DEKALB, Ill. — Police say the gunman in the Northern Illinois University shooting rampage had stopped taking his medication recently and had become erratic before he killed five people and committed suicide.

DeKalb County coroner Rusty Miller says there had been confusion over the death toll. He is now correcting himself, saying that five people were killed, not six.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/5544901.html

Gunman, 5 others dead at NIU; shooter identified as Steve Kazmierczak
Feb 15, 2008 11:18 -0500
Updated: 14 minutes ago

UPDATE: Police say NIU gunman Steve Kazmierczak had stopped taking his medication recently and had "become erratic." The DeKalb County coroner says five students, not six, were killed in the shooting rampage in which Kazmierczak took his own life...

It was the worst campus shooting since April 16, 2007, when 32 people were shot to death on the campus of Virginia Tech University by a student who later killed himself. Virginia Tech officials have called NIU offering help and advice, Peters said...


http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/chi-niu-shooting_webfeb16,0,4794927.story

Why so many Americans today are 'mentally ill'
Posted: August 14, 2007
WorldNetDaily.com
Columbine mass-killer Eric Harris was taking Luvox ? like Paxil and Zoloft (and trendsetter Prozac), a modern and widely prescribed type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. Harris and fellow student Dylan Klebold went on a hellish school shooting rampage in 1999 during which they killed 12 students and a teacher and wounded 24 others before turning their guns on themselves.

Luvox manufacturer Solvay Pharmaceuticals concedes that during short-term controlled clinical trials 4 percent of children and youth taking Luvox ? that's 1 in 25 ? developed mania, a dangerous and violence-prone mental derangement characterized by extreme excitement and delusion.

The inescapable truth is, perpetrators of many of the nation's most horrendous murder rampages in recent years were taking, or just coming off of, prescribed psychiatric drugs.

Most recently, authorities investigating Cho Seung-Hui, who murdered 32 at Virginia Tech in April, reportedly found "prescription drugs" for the treatment of psychological problems among his possessions. While the coroner reported no drugs were found in Cho's bloodstream on the day of the crime, April 16, the killer's roommate Joseph Aust told the Richmond Times-Dispatch Cho's routine each morning had included taking prescription drugs.

So what kind of meds might Cho have been taking? Strangely, his medical records have yet to be released to the public ? authorities claiming it's because an investigation is still ongoing, although critics suggest the purpose may be to protect the drug companies from liability claims.