Washington (ANTARA News) – A gunman wounded at least 15 people when he opened fire with a shotgun in a university classroom Chicago suburb of DeKalb, Ill. on Thursday, authorities said.
The shooting took place shortly after 3 p.m. (2100 GMT), when police received report that a white, male shooter with a shotgun and pistol opened fire in a lecture hall of the university.
Xinhua reports that the gunman is now dead, according to DeKalb police.
Meanwhile, a local hospital said it expects to receive 15 patients and have so far treated at least two.
The university has posted a campus alert on its web site and canceled classes for Thursday night.
Witnesses said several wounded people were took out on stretchers.
“Campus police report that the immediate danger has passed,” the Web site of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb said on its Web site. “The gunman is no longer a threat.”
The local student newspaper and other media outlets said the gunman was dead, possibly by suicide.
A hospital near the campus said at least three victims suffered head wounds, and as many as 15 wounded people were expected. Local media reported 18 people were shot, including the gunman.
One student told local radio that roughly 140 students were in a geology classroom when the man opened fire. Other witnesses said students were bleeding profusely from neck and other wounds after being hit by buckshot from the shotgun.
Ambulances swarmed onto the 25,000-student campus, which is 65 miles (104 km) west of downtown Chicago, and classes were canceled, the university said on its Web site.
One male student said he was sitting in the class, taking notes when the gunman entered from behind a curtain, firing a shotgun. “He was just shooting, and people were screaming.”
A woman who was outside the classroom when the shooting occurred said students fled in terror.
U.S. schools and colleges have seen a series of shooting incidents in recent years.
A university in Blacksburg, Virginia, Virginia Tech, became the site of the deadliest rampage in U.S. history in April last year when a gunman killed 32 people and himself.