USA Today and the Los Angeles Times lead with the shooting at Northern Illinois University, where a gunman walked into a geology class and began firing. The gunman, who was identified as a former graduate student, killed five students and injured 16 others (at least two remain in critical condition) before turning the gun on himself. Carrying a shotgun and two handguns, the shooter apparently walked into the lecture hall that had at least 100 students and, without saying a word, shot the instructor (who survived) and then began firing randomly. The LAT points out that it was the fifth school shooting in a week.

The Washington Post leads, and most of the other papers front, news that the Pentagon will try to shoot down a malfunctioning U.S. spy satellite before it falls to Earth carrying 1,000 pounds of fuel that could turn into a potentially lethal toxic gas. The Navy will fire an anti-ballistic missile from a ship in the Pacific Ocean as the satellite reenters the atmosphere, which is a move that has never been tried before and is meant to avoid leaving much debris in space. The New York Times leads with Federal reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson acknowledging before lawmakers that the continuing credit crisis will slow down growth in the economy as a whole. Bernanke said the situation will likely get worse before it gets better and emphasized that the Fed is open to further interest rate cuts. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with Mitt Romney's endorsement of Sen. John McCain. The former governor of Massachusetts urged the 280 delegates he had won to support his former rival.