7 Dead in N. Illinois U. Hall Shooting

[February 15, 2008]  DeKALB (AP) -- Another student shot when a gunman opened fire at a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University has died, bringing the toll to seven, including the gunman, a coroner said Friday.

Investigators and school officials did not immediately know why the man fired on a geology class with a shotgun and two handguns Thursday before committing suicide.

The shooter had been a graduate student in sociology at Northern Illinois as recently as spring 2007, but was not currently enrolled at the 25,000-student campus, University President John Peters said.

"It appears he may have been a student somewhere else," University Police Chief Donald Grady said. "We have no motive and I have no way of knowing what the motive was."

Authorities did not release the gunman's name, but Peters said he had no record of police contact or an arrest record while attending Northern Illinois, about 65 miles west of Chicago.

DeKalb County Coroner Dennis J. Miller on Friday released the identities of the four victims who died in his county: Daniel Parmenter, 20, of Westchester; Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero; Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville; and Julianna Gehant, 32, of Meridan.

Two other victims died after being transferred to hospitals in other counties, Miller said in a news release.

He said the gunman's name is not yet being released. The gunman died at the scene.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
AP's earlier story is below.

DeKALB (AP) -- A coroner says another student shot at a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University has died, bringing the toll to seven, including the gunman.

DeKalb County's coroner says four of the victims died in his county. He says two other victims died at hospitals in other counties.

Authorities say the gunman was a former student at the university. They don't know why he fired on a geology class Thursday before committing suicide.

[Associated Press; By CARYN ROUSSEAU and DEANNA BELLANDI]

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