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NIU pauses to remember mass shooting 10 years ago

Bells were tolled at 3:06 p.m. Wednesday at Northern Illinois University, marking the 10th anniversary of a Valentine's Day campus shooting in which five students were killed just as news began breaking of another mass shooting at a school in Florida.

Wreaths were laid on the DeKalb campus at the Peaceful Reflection Garden created outside Cole Hall, the site of the shooting in 2008. Stone walls in the garden bear the names of the five students killed: Gayle Dubowski, 20, of Carol Stream, Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero, Julianna Gehant, 32, of Mendota, Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville and Daniel Parmenter, 20, of Westchester.

Families, students and NIU staff members shared hugs and paused in a moment of silence.

  Family and friends gather Wednesday on the tenth anniversary of a mass shooting at Cole Hall on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Five students were killed. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  NIU employee Susana Dasneves places a wreath at the stone in memory of Catalina Garcia. Dasneves served as a liaison and interpreter between the Garcia family and the university in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 shooting. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Eric Mace embraces Gary Parmenter on Wednesday at the NIU memorial service. The men's' children, Ryanne Mace and Daniel Parmenter, were killed in the 2008 mass shooting. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  Family and friends observe a moment of reflection Wednesday on the 10th anniversary of a mass shooting at Cole Hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
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