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The shooter in the NIU carnage that left five students dead last week began to exhibit troubling signs of mental illness as a high school student as he explored satanism and white-power movements, reports AP. Steven Kazmierczak "started to identify more with hatred-type stuff," said a friend. His behavioral problems became so severe that he required mood-stabilizing drugs, and landed for a year in a psychiatric treatment center where he cut himself and resisted taking medication.
As an adult, he often exhibited an explosive temper and had a rocky relationship with his girlfriend. "He would push her around," said one acquaintance. Just months ago, Kazmierczak, 27, covered his arms in chilling tattoos inspired by the graphic Saw movies. The tattoo artist remembers him as "really mousy" but liked the images enough to take a photo for his store. "I don't know if I still want that picture on my wall," he said. (Read more Northern Illinois University stories.)
