Ex-student who killed 5 shot himself in the head

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Mar 15, 2008

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) -- A former Northern Illinois University graduate student who opened fire inside a lecture hall died when he put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger, according to partial autopsy results released Friday by the university.

Steven Kazmierczak, 27, also had trace amounts of cold medicine, nicotine and alprazolam -- a generic version of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax -- in his bloodstream when he fatally wounded five students before committing suicide on Valentine's Day, the school said. Eighteen other people were wounded.

NIU officials said the DeKalb County coroner found that four of Kazmierczak's five victims died from gunshot wounds. No cause of death was given Friday for the fifth victim, who died at a hospital in neighboring Winnebago County.

"This is the extent of the information we are presently able to make available for public dissemination," school administrators said in a statement.

Police found empty cigarette cartons, cold medicine and energy drinks inside a DeKalb motel room where Kazmericzak paid cash for a three-night stay before the attack. Authorities have said he stopped taking antidepressants several weeks before the attack.