Thanks for the info. I'm assuming you already looked for a MySpace?
Trench | Homepage | 02.15.08 - 9:04 am | #

I haven't had any luck finding a Myspace or Facebook, but I don't see how he was a college student and didn't have one. I've tried cross referencing by email address, also. I can only assume there are email addresses we haven't found yet.
Nicole | 02.15.08 - 9:39 am | #

That's not his LiveJournal. That kid was 18 in 2005. (Not to mention, could not have authored a paper to save his life.)
Anonymous | 02.15.08 - 9:56 am | #

Thanks, Anon. Do a blogger a favor and pick a screen name next time -- I'm allergic to "Anonymous." But seriously, I appreciate it. It wasn't even your point about the age that got me, it was the point about authoring a paper -- looking back over that LJ, I had to agree with you, 100%.

That's what I get for working fast and trusting a little-used and still unfamiliar source. Ah, Internetz.
Steve Huff | Homepage | 02.15.08 - 10:08 am | #

photo of shooter:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story...tory/? id=135599
Monika | 02.15.08 - 10:54 am | #

and a more recent photo.. he's lost a lot of weight..
http://ap.google.com/article/ ALe...tEjKCAD8UQS7A81
Monika | 02.15.08 - 12:10 pm | #

There's a Steve Kazmierczak and a Steven Kazmierczak on Facebook - neither appear to be him. Indeed not as uncommon a name as one may think.
[Sandra] | 02.15.08 - 1:16 pm | #

This morning I woke up to the sounds of Matchbox 20, reminding me that, "The world is burning to the ground." On some days, especially catastrophic events such as this transpire, I find myself questioning whether that is indeed true.

I know it's too early to speculate at this point, but I wonder if the date had anything to do with the action? Was Kazmierczak in a relationship that recently dissolved, was this outburst triggered by a combination of feelings of rejection and a chemical imbalance, further destabilized by a discontinuation of medication(s)?

Perhaps the rejection came more in an academic or occupational sense? (This would seem to make the University a more likely target, unless he was targeting a specific individual or individuals.)

Looking at his high school yearbook photo from '98, its not exactly difficult to paint him in the victimized/bullied role. When all is said and done, this sadly will probably be yet another Columbine /Tech type story.

I swear it's like Columbine laid the blue print for every subsequent school shooting. These killers even seem to have a "uniform of the day" and an equal flair for the dramatic.

This guy "one-upped" them all. Talk about a theatrical performance. He carries the shotgun in a guitar case, steps out from behind a screen, on a STAGE, and opens fire on his unsuspecting audience... Unbelievable.

Talk about a "St. Valentine's Day Massacre."
Luke | 02.15.08 - 2:09 pm | #

People,
No one really wants to confront something so truly unpleasant, but it's time to start looking at what, specifically, psychopaths are and what they are not.
Become an expert, understand the nuances of their behavior, so you can recognize them.
Why the nuances? Because, more than anything, psychopaths are cunning and subtle.
It does appear, for all their willful evil, that there might be a biological or genetic component to their lack of emotional affect, empathy, and conscience.
The percentage of psychopaths among us is several percent.
Australia and Canada are way ahead of the United States on this. See www.hare.org for more information.
Just wake up.
Dan | 02.15.08 - 3:08 pm | #

i think the problem is that everybody's spelling his first name wrong.

there's a myspace with his name, but spelled as "stephen" showing in indiana that's the right age; it's set to private but his headline has a link to a paintballer's site.

i'm very curious about the medication he was on. i'm wondering if it was chantix in light of a few articles and studies i just read today...
brooke | 02.15.08 - 3:59 pm | #

I think it's just a little too early in this investigation to assign a "pathology" to this guy.

Sure, he could be a stone-cold psychopathic/sociopathic personality, but not all mentally ill individuals are predisposed to committing acts of violence.

We know he took meds to control some illness/disability and we know he was functional enough to earn academic degrees and embark on post-grad work.

Really that's all we know...
Luke | 02.15.08 - 5:06 pm | #

is this it?
http://profile.myspace.com/ index...friendid=415105

hum... select all to view words when you get there
Wendy | 02.15.08 - 5:57 pm | #

We know he took meds to control some illness/disability and we know he was functional enough to earn academic degrees and embark on post-grad work.

Keep in mind he was older than the average student. He graduated in 2006, which would have made him 25 or 26 when he got his undergrad degree. Why did it take him 3 or 4 extra years? There's no indication he did military service.

I also think it's weird that apparently he was living in the dorms at 25 (msnbc has a video interview with a former hallmate).
Holly | 02.15.08 - 5:58 pm | #

is this it?
http://profile.myspace.com/ index...friendid=415105

hum... select all to view words when you get there

Why do you think this is him? I don't see either of his names or anything similar.

This appears to be an attractive, possibly gay man (it's the gaze and hipster glasses) with very cool music tastes. Not what I'd expect from everything else I've seen and read.
Holly | 02.15.08 - 6:03 pm | #

The Chicago Triburne is reporting that Kazmierczak told one of his professors, Jim Thomas, that he was in the military.

"Thomas said Kazmierczak had confided in him that he had served in the military and received a discharge for psychological reasons."

http://tinyurl.com/2t9ft7
thefirstdiane | 02.15.08 - 6:30 pm | #

I believe this is the myspace that brooke was referring to:
http://tinyurl.com/37kapq

I'd say it's him. Exact same name, age and location as the shooter.
thefirstdiane | 02.15.08 - 6:37 pm | #

He could have had a learning disability that might have made him a bit "slower," but didn't stop him from being extremely intelligent, none the less.

I personally have dyscalculia (AKA numerical dyslexia) which wasn't properly diagnosed until my early 20's and made academia difficult for me, despite having a "genius" IQ.

Perhaps the meds he took were meant to treat a learning disability.

Still, we will most likely find that he was a complete social misfit, or at least, that is how he viewed himself.
Luke | 02.15.08 - 6:40 pm | #

Searching for a cache of that myspace only yielded a preview for a video of a Florida band called Paramore:

http://tinyurl.com/37wopx

Paramore web site:

http://www.paramore.net/
[Sandra] | 02.15.08 - 7:25 pm | #

^ read too fast, make that TENNESSEE band, Paramore
[Sandra] | 02.15.08 - 7:26 pm | #

Sure, he could be a stone-cold psychopathic/sociopathic personality, but not all mentally ill individuals are predisposed to committing acts of violence.

There is a difference between psychopathy and mental illness, Luke. The psychopath has at best only a rudimentary conscience and only rudimentary empathy, a low boredom threshold, and a high excitement threshold. He (or, rarely, she) is rooted in the real world and sees people the way they are -- as victims or enemies. The mentally ill person, fundamentally, is disconnected from reality to a greater or lesser extent.

Another big difference is the mentally ill can be treated while the psychopath cannot. Mental illness is a disease process, while psychopathy is more akin to a preference for coffee over tea -- part of the person's personality.

Al
--
Al ias Always In Flyover Country
AlwaysInFlyoverCountry | 02.15.08 - 7:26 pm | #

My questions are, can a psychopath suffer from mental illness? Or can a psychopath be misdiagnosed as having mental illness, be prescribed meds which can't work and actually contribute to sending them over the edge? I'm troubled by the pharmaceutical connection in all these basket cases.
[Sandra] | 02.15.08 - 7:42 pm | #

I didn't mean to imply that they were one in the same. I should have made myself more clear.

*The mentally ill person, fundamentally, is disconnected from reality to a greater or lesser extent.

Is a depressed person really "disconnected from reality?" After all, depression is a form of mental illness. I'd say the exact opposite. A depressed person is perhaps more in tune with reality.

As for saying that psychopathy can't be treated, I guess that's up for judgment. Some will say that anti psychotic drugs do the trick or at least keep unnatural desires in check. It is usually when the drugs are discontinued that these incidents occur.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23171567/

LE is indeed looking for a girlfriend/ex-girlfriend.
Luke | 02.15.08 - 7:49 pm | #

Is a depressed person really "disconnected from reality?"

Depends on the specific type of depression.

Reactive depression -- what most people mean when they say, "I'm depressed because I didn't get that raise at work" or ". . . the supermarket was sold out of steak and I really wanted to grill" or -- well, any number of other happenings where a causal relationship, no matter how tenuous, can be established -- generally does leave the sufferer in firm contact with reality. Clinical depression, though, can have the victim feeling absolutely worthless -- and that is definitely not reality.

Al
--
Al ias Always In Flyover Country
AlwaysInFlyoverCountry | 02.15.08 - 8:09 pm | #

As someone who deals with clinically diagnosed depression (among other things) on a daily basis, I can say that I am plenty connected, if not too connected on most days, to reality.

At times, (especially when horrific events such as these transpire) my overly sensitive empathetic tendencies tend to dictate the state of my mental health. I suppose any normal person would be impacted by such tragedies, just not to such an extreme degree.

On the other hand, I have recently been diagnosed as having both PTSD (from an abusive childhood)and social anxiety. In all honesty, I'm told by several "experts" that I do border on antisocial personality disorder.

The irony that the same empathy that so greatly effects me at times has probably kept me from doing some of the things I have thought about in the past, is not lost on me.

If I am a "sociopath," I suppose I am one with a conscience. I imagine that's the equivalent of being a vampire with a soul... lol
Luke | 02.15.08 - 9:07 pm | #

Luke, that just doesn't make any goddamned sense.

You start your post saying you have too much empathy, then you conclude by saying you are sociopathic.
whokebe | 02.15.08 - 11:34 pm | #

Everyone, I don't think this guy fit the psychopathic mode, at all. Yes, he had to have some inherit "anti-social" qualities to drop the natural prohibition against killing others, but this was about mental illness in some form or another.

In essence, he had to have been a combination of things, which makes analyzing this beyond our capacities, really. And many of you know I usually don't hesitate to play profiler for a moment. Not this time. I just think, given Kazmierczak's academic history and how people dealt with him socially, that this was a more complicated than usual school shooting.

I did make an observation, though, one I don't know what to do with -- Kazmierczak graduated from high school in 1998 -- just one year before Columbine. He's the second college shooter in a year to have graduated right around the time of Columbine -- the first was Kimveer Gill. I don't know why that sticks out to me, but it does. Maybe nothing to it at all, but I had to throw it out there.
Steve Huff | Homepage | 02.15.08 - 11:50 pm | #

To be clear: psychopathy is not viewed by mental health professionals as insanity. Psychopaths are sane, by conventional definitions. I'm not a mental health pro, but I'll match my knowledge of this stuff against any other layman's.

Personally, I think the archaic term for psychopathy should still be in use: "moral insanity."

Think about it. The important word there is "moral."
Steve Huff | Homepage | 02.15.08 - 11:52 pm | #

and a more recent photo.. he's lost a lot of weight..
http://ap.google.com/article/ ALe...tEjKCAD8UQS7A81
Monika | 02.15.08 - 12:10 pm | #

His eyebrows look waxed.
Emily Booth | 02.16.08 - 1:09 am | #

Was his GF's name Jessica? There's a
photobucket account by the name of skazmier at http://s18.photobucket.com/album...er/? mobile=true
Emily Booth | 02.16.08 - 1:18 am | #

The Onlife Life of NIU Killer Steven Kazmierczak @ http://www.waxy.org/archive/2008.../ the_onli.shtml
Emily Booth | 02.16.08 - 1:37 am | #

I think the GF may have been somebody named Jessica.

A news article says that "He moved to Champaign with his girlfriend, also a graduate of NIU's sociology program. The couple had both been officers in the school's student chapter of the American Corrections Association."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/ne...8.column? page=2

This website shows that the only female that served on NIU's Academic Criminal justice Association with SK was a woman named Jessica:

http://www.sa.niu.edu/acja.html
blah | 02.16.08 - 1:38 am | #

Personally, I think the archaic term for psychopathy should still be in use: "moral insanity."

Think about it. The important word there is "moral."
Steve Huff | Homepage | 02.15.08 - 11:52 pm

I couldn't agree more, Steve.

In my case, I've had violent impulses and/or thoughts/fantasies, but I also realize that the consequences for such actions (those that society deems "immoral" or wrong) are very REAL.

A true "Psychopath" could give a damn about consequences or what others think or how they feel.

It also crosses my mind that even if I was to intentionally lash out at an individual, they wouldn't be the only one effected.

A psychopath doesn't care about the long reaching/lasting effects that their actions create. "Collateral damage."

Morality is definitely the compass that keeps me in check.
Luke | 02.16.08 - 3:03 pm | #

"This website shows that the only female that served on NIU's Academic Criminal justice Association with SK was a woman named Jessica:

http://www.sa.niu.edu/acja.html
blah | 02.16.08 - 1:38 am | # "

That would make sense, since the first hit I got on myspace for Jessica Baty was this:

http://profile.myspace.com/ index...iendid=30895204

It states "Jessica is missing SK". Profile is private. Does that look like Steven in the picture with her?
RW | 02.16.08 - 3:39 pm | #

Luke, that just doesn't make any goddamned sense.

You start your post saying you have too much empathy, then you conclude by saying you are sociopathic.
whokebe | 02.15.08 - 11:34 pm | #

Man, I know it doesn't make any sense...

Truthfully, it confuses me at times and is something I am JUST beginning to come to terms with.

People want to believe what they have been told by "experts", in regards to understanding mental health, but I've compared psychologists and psychiatrists in the past to an addiction specialist, with no personal experience battling an addiction, counseling addicts.

How can you REALLY know or understand what an afflicted person is going through if you've never been there yourself?

Sure, they have their science and their patient care experience, but im my opinion, personal experience trumps all.

Don't get me wrong, I have great respect for mental health professionals and addiction specialists... I have seen them work wonders. They just aren't the end all be all and they can become very biased by what they think they know.

ANYWAY...

I know what I am like when I miss a single dosage, so I can relate (believe it or not) to what probably happened when Steven Kazmierczak quit his medication regiment all together.

I don't know much about this guy, but I get this feeling that Steven was hyper-vigilant (as am I), with a heightened sense of right and wrong/ fair and unjust.

So my question is how wrong/unjust did things in his life really go for him to throw it all away and inflict so much pain on others in the process??? Even further, was it really THAT bad or was it more delusion/perception based?

Was a break-up the trigger? Especially being so close to Valentine's Day. I sincerely thought from the second that I heard about this tragedy that the date bore some symbolic significance.

Yet, another thing that strikes me is how grandiose, almost theatrical the shooting was. He was making a statement and going out in a big way, which leads me to believe this was A LOT more than just a love gone bad.

The scope of what he did and the way he went about it (carrying the shotgun in in a guitar case, for one) shows that he was well aware of what he was doing, far from crazy.

It would seem to me that Steven teetered someplace between mentally ill and psychotic, perhaps we will learn more as details are unveiled.
Luke | 02.16.08 - 3:52 pm | #

Solid information here:

http://www.bostonherald.com/ news...tmw#articleFull
Luke | 02.16.08 - 3:55 pm | #

At the Chicago Tribune website http://www.chicagotribune.com, you can view a slideshow of photos of SK which includes photos of the interior of his motel room.
Emily Booth | 02.16.08 - 5:27 pm | #

Definitely turning out to be that he was "out there."

http://ap.google.com/article/ ALe...tEjKCAD8URNR302
Luke | 02.16.08 - 8:04 pm | #

It states "Jessica is missing SK". Profile is private. Does that look like Steven in the picture with her?

It looks just like him.
blah | 02.16.08 - 8:22 pm | #

Is anyone familiar with "The Saw"? What about cutting oneself? Is that a symptom of child abuse?
Emily Booth | 02.17.08 - 12:00 am | #

Emily, it's "Saw" - I think there is the original and three sequels now - and it's basically a story about a killer who kidnaps his victims and puts them in traps - with impossible choices (such as saw off your own leg to escape, or kill the person next to you) - his victims are people he thinks have taken their lives for granted in the past. The tattoo on SK's arm is the "doll" the killer uses to communicate with the people he has kidnapped (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_%28Saw%29).
John | 02.17.08 - 7:05 am | #

In light of the fact that SK mailed ammo to his former girlfriend along with a note that said "and you'll know why" and went into his rampage on Valentine's Day, perhaps this is his sick way of getting "revenge."
Midwest | 02.17.08 - 10:30 am | #

When I see a headline story like, "Gunman's Contradictions Confound Police," it reinforces for me that law enforcement, criminal profilers, and mental health professionals, place far too much stock in what they think they know.

Where and what exactly are the "contradictions" they are looking for?
Luke | 02.17.08 - 12:25 pm | #

In light of the fact that SK mailed ammo to his former girlfriend along with a note that said "and you'll know why" and went into his rampage on Valentine's Day, perhaps this is his sick way of getting "revenge."

Midwest, I can't find this in any of the news stories. Do you have a link you could share?
Holly | 02.17.08 - 3:13 pm | #

Holly,
It was mentioned in an article printed in Chicago Sun-Times of Feb. 17th. Title of article is "Killer Sent Ominous Note."
Midwest | 02.17.08 - 3:57 pm | #

Here is an interesting interview with the girlfriend:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/17...ter.girlfriend/

She has no idea why he did it. She says she still loves him.

Some interesting details:

--He stopped taking his medication three weeks ago;

--She said he was not acting erratic.

--On the day of the shooting or the next day she received a package from him containing two textbooks, a "goodbye" note, and a new cell phone. She has no idea why he sent the cell phone.

--The note said "You've done so much for me." It doesn't sound like revenge against the GF.

--He sent another package with a gun holster and ammunition. She has no idea why.

--He called her the night before the killings and told her not to forget about him.

--One of the books he sent to her after the shooting was Friedrich Nietzsche's "The Antichrist," which was taken by the police.

--The police also took SK's copy of the "Encyclopedia of Serial Killers."
blah | 02.17.08 - 6:58 pm | #

Thanks for the link, Blah. This is just awful. Why? Why? Why? We'll never know.
Emily Booth | 02.17.08 - 8:17 pm | #

According to girlfriend's talk with CNN, she also said he had been using prozac, which made him feel like a zombie. Therefore he quit this medicine.

I don't know what's more relevant to discuss: Too easy to get guns, or too easy to get or quit medication?

The everlasting discussion of who or what is a psychopath/sociopath has no meaning to me.

We'll find people who lack empathy all over the "radar". Most of them don't kill.
kirsti | 02.18.08 - 2:21 am | #

I don't think it's either/or.

The gun program is screwed up and
the mental health system is screwed up.

The more I hear about this case the more I feel that Steven may have been a paranoid schizophrenic.
Luke | 02.18.08 - 1:29 pm | #

It's not that the mental health system is screwed up, it's just that while there are treatments for mental illnesses, there are no cures. Psychiatry is not an exact science, there's still a lot that isn't understood about how the brain works, or even what causes a lot of mental illnesses. Add to that, the fact that human beings don't all respond or react to medications in the same way.
Merlyn | 02.18.08 - 1:57 pm | #

Incredibly sad.
lisafer the unholy | 02.18.08 - 7:44 pm | #

All I can say is: If he didn't have guns, he would not have been able to kill as many as he did.
kirsti | 02.20.08 - 1:18 am | #

I don't want to turn this into a debate about gun control but you have to do something about illegal guns first before you can target the legal ones.
Trench | Homepage | 02.20.08 - 8:32 am | #

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that the girlfriend's statements to CNN do not match her statements to the police. She has been labeled by the police as "uncooperative." Do you think she did it intentionally, and if so, why?
A Thinker | 02.20.08 - 12:55 pm | #

According to CNN she denies those accustaions.
Trench | Homepage | 02.20.08 - 9:03 pm | #

www.johngbrennerinvestigations.com
Stacey | Homepage | 02.20.08 - 9:10 pm | #