Article

2007-12-06 -Lurid Crime Tales-

Gunman Kills 8 People, Then Himself at a Mall in Omaha

A gunman killed eight people at a mall in Omaha this afternoon and then killed himself, setting off bedlam and panic among holiday shoppers, the police said. The person who we believe to be the shooter has died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, Sgt. Teresa Negron of the Omaha Police Department said at a televised news briefing late this afternoon after the police had secured the area. We have been able to clear the mall, she said. We dont believe we have any other shooters. The police said that at least five other people had been injured in the shootings.

Sergeant Negron said the shooter was armed with a rifle. She did not give his identity during the news briefing, but KETV television of Omaha, citing Sarpy County Sheriffs Department, later identified gunman as Robert A. Hawkins, 19, of Bellevue, Neb. We are still conducting the investigation, Sergeant Negron said, adding that the citys mayor, who was out of town, was on his way back to Omaha.

Sergeant Negron said the police received a 911 call from someone inside the Westroads Mall on the west side of Omaha, and shots could be heard in the background. The first police officers arrived at the mall six minutes after the first call, she said, but by then the shootings were over.

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KETV reported that the gunman left a suicide note that was found at his home by relatives. The television station, quoting a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the shooting, said the note indicated that the gunman wanted to go out in style.

The shootings broke the usually banal routine of holiday shopping. The gunman was said by some witnesses to have fired about 20 shots into a crowd at the Von Maur department store. Some customers and workers ran screaming from the mall, while others dived into dressing rooms to hide from the shooter.

Posted by Fred 2007-12-06 00:00|| || Front Page|| [12 views ] Top

#1 Suicide with company, when the mall security didn't get there fast enough to do it for him. I heard on the news that his parents had kicked him out, his girlfriend broke up with him, and he'd been drinking and doing drugs to cure the resulting depression.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2007-12-06 13:43|| 2007-12-06 13:43|| Front Page Top

#2 CHL, ladies and gentlemen, CHL.

Posted by Helmuth, Speaking for Spusoling6019 2007-12-06 14:25|| 2007-12-06 14:25|| Front Page Top

#3 Lost his job, lost his girlfriend, drinking; why he was only a flat tire away from a country song...
should have just gone ont on some dirt road and eaten the gun barrel without taking those innocents, may they rest in peace, may he rest in Hell.

Posted by USN,Ret. 2007-12-06 14:45|| 2007-12-06 14:45|| Front Page Top

#4 I nominate that snark of the year.

Posted by wxjames 2007-12-06 17:37|| 2007-12-06 17:37|| Front Page Top

#5 If shopping malls allowed people with concealed carry permits to.....carry.....this sh*t would not be happening. Idiots.

Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul 2007-12-06 17:53|| 2007-12-06 17:53|| Front Page Top

#6 But, but, but........... it was a "gun free zone".

Posted by Large Gleasing8438 2007-12-06 19:34|| 2007-12-06 19:34|| Front Page Top

#7 He used an AK-47 and a live grenade was found in the landscaping at the same mall Friday. ICE just deported some MS-13 from Bellevue,(Offutt) too. This is one of the main immigrant pipelines in the Midwest and could have been much worse if he had access to so much firepower.

Posted by Danielle 2007-12-06 22:18|| 2007-12-06 22:18|| Front Page Top

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00:48 trailing wife
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00:18 Beldar+Uneter3543
00:11 Skidmark