[bears9]

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Bears running back Garrett Wolfe slumped in his car with grief Thursday afternoon, stunned to hear about a shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University

A gunman had burst into an introductory geology class in Cole Hall and opened fire with a shotgun and two handguns, killing five and wounding 16 before committing suicide.

“When I was a freshman, I actually had that same class in that hall,” said a shaken Wolfe, who graduated from NIU last year with a degree in communications. “You just don’t believe that something of that nature could happen.


“It affects me because I know some of those students. That’s the university that I’m not far removed from, that I once called home. To have something happen like that at a place I consider home, a place I consider myself very safe at, is shocking. It could happen to anyone.”

As you’d imagine, Wolfe still has many friends that attend the school, which is located in a rural area about 65 miles west of Chicago.
“I’ve talked to people that were on campus and everybody’s in shock,” he said. “The campus hasn’t been that empty in a long time. It’s like a ghost town. It’s crazy. People have never seen helicopters flying over the school like that. No one can get used to what happened.”

NIU tragedy hits close to home for Bears running back - Chicago Bears