Two Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide That Locked Down North Lake College

Late Wednesday morning, North Lake College in Irving, TX was placed on lockdown for an active shooter situation after a man came onto the campus with a firearm, shot a female student and took his own life.

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Irving Police responded to the active shooter call at the community college campus around 11:30 a.m. Once there, they discovered the body of Janeera Nickol Gonzalez, 20, inside the Performance Hall Building.

After searching the adjoining buildings, officers found the body of a 21-year-old male inside a locker room shower stall in Building “F”. Police said he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

After the gunman began shooting, students were immediately evacuated while others were forced to take shelter in place as police arrived and began searching the campus for the suspect.

“I reached a big hall and I just saw a guy, and someone was sitting in a chair, and the guy was standing in front of her and shot her three times,” said Nasrin Nanbakhsh, a North Lake College math tutor with the college for 20 years.  “I immediately ran back to the room where I’m working. We’re trained in emergencies and I was thinking of those steps we need to do so we locked the doors, turned off the lights. I asked all  the students to go back to the back room and hide there and be quiet.”

“While we were locked in there, it was just agony,” said North Lake student Alex Paterson. “I mean I literally saw people praying that they were going to get out. And I was too. It’s, I mean, that’s the first time I’ve ever been in a situation like that and I’m thankful I made it out.”

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“This is an emotional time for the North Lake family. We’re heartbroken that such a tragedy has occurred on campus,” said Dr. Christa Slejko, president of North Lake College. “We will address any needs for counseling on campus as soon as we re-open,” said Dr. Christa Slejko, President of North Lake College. “North Lake students and employees followed lockdown procedures, and we are relieved that no one else was injured. We also offer our thanks to officers from the Irving Police Department, who partnered with North Lake College Police, to protect students and staff on campus.”

North Lake College announced all campuses will be closed until Monday, May 8.

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