In the wake of Thursday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, several memorials dedicated to the victims of the tragedy have sprung up on social networking site Facebook and YouTube.
Former grad student Stephen Kazmierczak, opened fire in a large lecture hall, killing five Northern Illinois University students and wounding dozens of others before committing suicide on the auditorium stage.
As of Friday, nearly 55,000 Facebook members joined a tribute group called "Pray for Northern Illinois University Students and Family."
The page contains detailed information about community vigils, links to news reports and words of support and remembrance. The page also contains commemorative YouTube videos as well as student testimonials voicing their reactions to the tragedy.
Nearly 400 photographs have been posted to the Facebook group, most of them images of tribute ribbons and the NIU mascot. Several are pictures taken by students who witnessed the scene.
Jim Combs, a student set to transfer to the University this fall, created the Facebook group just after the NIU shootings began Thursday.
"Like with any tragedy, you feel like you need to say something," Combs told the Chicago Tribune. "Since I'm going to be part of the family, I felt like there needed to be a safe haven for the students."
NIU officials confirmed the names of the students killed in the shooting: Daniel Parmenter, 20, of Westchester, Ill.; Catalina Garcia, 20, of Cicero, Ill.; Ryanne Mace, 19, of Carpentersville, Ill.; Julianna Gehant, 32, of Mendota, Ill.; and Gayle Dubowski, 20, of Carol Stream, Ill.
Individual tribute pages have also been created for the students involved: a group titled "Forever in our hearts Ryanne E Mace" contains information about small memorial services for the 19-year old NIU student; another group titled "In Memory of Catalina 'Cathy' Garcia" was recently created by family friend of the 20-year old victim.
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