Every time he was falling asleep and heard the house creak, Eric Mace thought it was his daughter, Ryanne, returning to their Carpentersville home from a date.

And it always was followed by the heartbreaking realization that it couldn’t be her.

Mace’s daughter was one of five killed Feb. 14, 2008, while sitting in an oceanography class in Cole Hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Former NIU student Steven Kazmierczak entered the room shortly after 3 p.m. and opened fire, killing Gayle Dubowski, Catalina Garcia, Julianna Gehant, Ryanne Mace and Daniel Parmenter and leaving 21 injured. He then took his own life.