Remembering the NIU Huskies

Last year on this day five students were shot in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University. It was a horrible tragedy and hard to get over, not just for the students at NIU, but also for everybody who knew one of the victims. 

I knew Dan Parmenter. I went to my high school and was a few years ahead of me. He wanted to be a fire fighter and a help people. When I heard about what happened I went to school the next day but school was not the same. I had several very upset teachers, there was grief counseling in student services, but I just couldn't stop crying. Not many current students at York High School knew Dan so it was mostly me and the teachers grieving but it took its toll on our school.

Dan wasn't even in the class that the shooting occurred in. He was sitting in with his girlfriend because it was Valentine's Day. He jumped in front of her so she didn't get shot and in turn, he suffered a fatal shooting. 

The other students that were killed were Ryanne Mace (19), Gayle Dubowski (20), Catalina Garcia (20), and Juliana Gehent (32).

So for today, no matter where you live, what school you go to, what your plans for Valentine's Day are: We are all Huskies.