The day is almost a year later, but the story is heartbreakingly the same.
A single gunman dressed in black entered a crowded lecture hall Thursday and opened fire on a class of college students before fatally shooting himself. The place was Northern Illinois University, not Virginia. The month was February, not April. But the pain and fear remain the same.
As of the writing of this editorial, details on the shooting are still sketchy. Some news sources report five deaths, others four, none of them confirmed. And although the number of deaths is lower than the Virginia Tech tragedy, the senseless loss of even one human life is too many.
However, as easy as it is to place blame and hate when terrible things happen, we cannot succumb to the terror, bitterness and anger that engulfed Virginia Tech in the mad witch-hunt for someone, anyone, to be responsible for the actions of one troubled young man. Fear and rage won’t make our universities safer, but perhaps vigilance and compassion will.
The haunting photos and terrified witness accounts have already scattered across the Internet and undoubtedly begun to fan the flames of rage and criticism. Wherever this young man came from, thousands of hostile eyes will soon be searching for a scapegoat.
The face, name and reasons behind the shooting remain unknown to the general public, but someone was in enough pain to lash out in a lethal way, and the media and public are already asking why.
Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, families so much like our own. We hope they find closure and peace.
Our thoughts go out to the reported 18 hospitalized students, and we hope for healing.
But as national media picks through every sordid detail of the horrendous event, our pity and grief for the victims cannot turn to anger. It is not our place to withhold forgiveness from the shooter or the shooter’s family. It is not our place to look on Northern Illinois University’s administrators and security officials with a critical sneer and say what could have, should have been done differently.
Certainly the universities across the United States, including our own, should carefully and constantly look to the safety of our students, and examining tragedies like today’s in Illinois are an important step in keeping schools safe. But these investigations must be analytical, not judgmental.
We hope the nation learned a year ago that verbal attacks and angry accusations only cause more pain, and Feb. 14, 2008 is already full of so much suffering.
As outsiders looking in, the rest of the nation must save this day and these people from any more.
