[Loukas]

A CRAZED gunman dressed all in black killed five people and wounded 13 in a rampage at a US university yesterday.

Terrified students screamed as the youth burst from behind a curtain into a crowded lecture room, armed with THREE guns.

He pulled out a shotgun and two pistols and began firing wildly at the 140 students.

Finally, standing on a stage, the maniac — a student from another college — pointed a pistol at his head and blew his brains out.

Some of the injured were said to have suffered horrific head wounds. One was shot in the eye.

They had been having a geology lecture in Cole Hall at Northern Illinois University near Chicago. The maniac was described as a “skinny white guy”.

One weeping student said: “He was firing everywhere. Bullets were spraying round the room. It was horrific. He went crazy. It’s a wonder many people weren’t killed. He looked like a normal guy at first, wearing a black trench coat and a beanie hat.

“But suddenly his eyes glazed over and he just started firing until he had emptied out his gun. Then he started nonchalantly reloading. It went on for about 15 seconds.” Student Edward Robinson said: “It was like he knew who he wanted to shoot.” A girl added: “I asked, ‘Is this real?’. The professor ducked out of the way.”

Hero British teaching assistant Andy Brennand told how he pulled students to safety.

He said: “I heard people running, and screaming. I took people into an office, turned lights off and closed the door.”

Officials later confirmed claims by students that graffiti on a university wall warned of a gun attack.

It was the fourth US school shooting in a week. Last year 32 people died in the Virginia Tech massacre. Seung Cho-Hui executed students and teachers before killing himself.

Teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold slaughtered 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999.

TheSun.co.uk