Students react to Northern Illinois University shooting

A man opened fire on a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University (NIU) yesterday, shooting 21 people and killing 5 of them before turning the gun on himself.

The shooting hit close to home for at least one UW student.

Meg Zabielski, a graduate student in the College of Education, is from Illinois. A large portion of her high school graduating class attended NIU, a public university like the UW.

“I’m kind of freaked out right now,” she said. “You can’t lock the doors of a university. … Being a public institution and being a part of the community is a catch-22.”

Because there are so many people in one place, she said, a university is a natural magnet for crime.

However, when crime really does happen on your campus the threat becomes real, Zabielski said, citing the incident in January in which a UW student was assaulted while moving her vehicle.

“That could have been me parking my car,” she said.

The gunman at NIU was not a student, according to CNN.com.

“It’s really scary, but what’s most scary is that I don’t know if there’s a solution,” she said, referring to how difficult it is to discern those who may commit violent crimes. “Who’s the bad guy?”

Nikia Fenlin, a senior in dance and anthropology, echoed Zabielski’s concerns.

“That’s scary considering someone can just walk in,” she said. “It disrupts the safe feeling of college campuses.”

Steffani Bennett, a sophomore in art history, feels safe on campus despite the NIU shooting and reports of crime around the UW.

“The UW has various [security] measures in place,” she said. “I feel much safer on campus than in the city in general.”

UW officials have responded to campus safety issues in various ways, but concede that violence, especially in a metropolitan area like Seattle, is inevitable.

“Unfortunately, [the NIU shooting] is a reminder that we live in a violent world,” said Ralph Robinson, UWPD assistant police chief. “We’ve done a lot of the things in light of the Virginia Tech shootings [and incidents last year]. … I’m not sure if I see a need for more [security.]”

Denise Xue, a sophomore from New York City, thinks there is a need for more security. The NYPD would often patrol outside her high school.

“I’m used to seeing more security,” she said. “There’s no security guards on campus [at the UW].”

Another improvement to security on campus would be adding lights, she said.

“In Red Square it’s so big and it gets so dark,” she said. “We need more lights on campus. I don’t feel safe.”

[Reach reporter Erinn Unger at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]