Friday, February 15, 2008

NIU Shooter: Steve Kazmierczak

From hints of information noted in the media, the NIU shooter must allegedly be the former Academic Criminal Justice Association Vice-President Steve Kazmierczak.

In an overnight Chicago Tribune article, you will find that it gives enough data about the shooter, without giving his id away, for anyone using the net to find his true identity.

The shooter, we are told, was the VP of the above association and the coauthor of a paper on prison self-injury (what is called "parasuicides" in my field).

That paper is:

Thomas, Jim, Margaret Leaf, Steve Kazmierczak, and Josh Stone. 2006. "Self-Injury in Correctional Settings: 'Pathology' of Prisons or of Prisoners?" Criminology and Public Policy 5(1):193-202.

Matching the two, you find it is Steve Kazmierczak.

The paper describes Steve Kazmierczak thusly: "Beginning graduate work at Northern Illinois University. In addition to his interests in corrections, political violence, and peace and social justice, he is co-authoring a manuscript on the role of religion in the formation of early prisons in the United States with Jim Thomas and Josh Stone. He is also develops content for online education and is an executive board officer of the NIU student chapter of the American Correctional Association."

I expect an in-depth examination of Kazmierczak's visible internet life within hours.

It is ironic that Kazmierczak would have been involved in writing a paper on parasuicidal behavior.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yep, and he's listed on the Socialogy Dept's web site at NIU as the recipient of the 2006 "Dean's Award" mentioned in the media also.

Unknown said...

Interesting to note how these events spur predictable behavior. You mention you expect "in-depth" research into his online life - and that is exactly what I, an average Joe, was doing.
You figure the victims are random, but the actual criminal... there must be *something* that explains "why".
When news leaked about the racial threats on the NIU bathroom wall several weeks ago I wondered if something like this was coming or if I was just becoming hyper-aware of this increasing phenomenon.

My greatest fear is that this becomes "normal" and I hope it doesn't, but I know how "we all" become more and more desensitized to this mayhem... and I can't help but notice the period between these horrible events is shortening.

Anonymous said...

I attended just about every position with Steve at NIU. My senior year he was my Teachers Assistant for a quantitative research methods course. I would have never expected Steve to become involved in such a massive tragedy. He was always very nice, helpful, and a scholar. It is really a shame that he went and did something like this.

Anonymous said...

"I would have never expected Steve to become involved in such a massive tragedy. He was always very nice, helpful, and a scholar. It is really a shame that he went and did something like this."

He wasn't "involved in ... a massive tragedy." He committed a massacre. Please do not use the passive voice. What's next -- "Mistakes were made"?

The proper use for a phrase like "involved in a massive tragedy," would be, say, where in spite of adhering to the speed limit and traffic laws, someone's car skidded on an icy road, hit another car, and caused a chain reaction accident, resulting in other people's deaths.

"Really a shame" also fails to convey the hell your old TA wrought. If he taught a class and failed to get his grades in on time, you might justifiably say, "It is really a shame that he went and did something like this."

He was very "nice, helpful, scholar[ly]" ... and criminally insane.

sidetracked2007 said...

i'm surprised no one sees a possible connection between his bazaar involvement and his papers and thesis on prisoner behavior and treatment. did he expose something of import?