Gunman at Illinois College Kills 5 Students, Wounds 16

They hurried to the law library where they felt they would be safer.

In a different classroom, Ryan Gailey, 28, watched uncomprehendingly as another student reported that some people had been shot. The professor asked whether anyone wanted to investigate.

"Me and another guy hopped up and ran outside. We're both Army guys. We did a 360 around the building. We went back in and said, 'It's real. Let's get to the library,' " said Gailey, who shepherded several professors who had been in a meeting.

University officials closed the school for a day in early December and rescheduled some final exams after students found two separate threats scrawled on a bathroom wall in a residence hall. Authorities said today that the graffiti was not a credible threat, but Peters assessed it differently at the time.

"Events of the past several days remind all of us that community is more than a word," Peters said at the time, "and that threats against a group are a threat to us all."

Still, once the immediate danger had passed, Gailey said he was concerned how the media would cover this latest incident.

"The person who did it is a loser," said Gailey, a second-year law student from Indiana. "He doesn't deserve a name or picture reference. You're not Kurt Cobain if you do that."

Staff writers Christopher Lee and William Branigin and staff researcher Madonna Lebling in Washington contributed to this report.