Classes Resume After NIU Shooting

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) — Students returned back to class at Northern Illinois University on Monday, 11 days after a deadly shooting rampage.

Students wearing red lapel pins in honor of their school colors returned Monday morning to lectures and labs.

A former graduate student opened fire on students February 14th, killing five and wounding 16 others before taking his own life.

The university’s president says Sunday night’s memorial attended by more than 12,000 people marks the end of the NIU community’s mourning period. He says he’s talked to students and they say they’re ready to move on together.

Outside the arena, school officials posted a large banner reading, “Forward, together forward.”

Still, students have admitted that returning to classes is a difficult task. One senior says it’s not fear but memories that are the problem.

In the words of Senior Kristen Bortolotti, “It’s not necessarily that we’re scared that there’s going to be someone with a gun. It’s the memories of what we saw.”