Omaha Mall shooting: Nine dead (UPDATE)

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By M&C US News Dec 6, 2007, 1:30 GMT

CNN reports that a 19-year-old man opened fire with a rifle inside a mall crowded with Christmas shoppers in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday, killing eight people and then himself, according to police. Families of the victims of a shooting at the Von Maur department store gather at a nearby Hampton Inn after a gunman reportedly shot and killed nine people, including himself, at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, on 05 December 2007. The attack made holiday shoppers run screaming through the mall and barricade themselves in dressing rooms. EPA/ALYSSA SCHUKAR

Families of the victims of a shooting at the Von Maur department store gather at a nearby Hampton Inn after a gunman reportedly shot and killed nine people, including himself, at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, on 05 December 2007. The attack made holiday shoppers run screaming through the mall and barricade themselves in dressing rooms. EPA/ALYSSA SCHUKARFive people were wounded in the rampage at the Westroads Mall, two of them critically, according to hospital spokesmen.Police said the mother of the gunman brought them a note that was "suicidal" in nature. KETV, a local television station, identified the man as Robert Hawkins.CNN spoke to several witnesses who said they hid in dressing rooms, bathrooms, closets and under racks of clothes, some praying as an estimated two dozen shots rang through the mall.The gunman shot one man in the head from a third-floor balcony and others at point-blank range, witnesses said. Some of the victims were waiting in line to get Christmas presents wrapped at Von Maur, a three leve store where the body of the gunman was found.KETV said Hawkins had been arrested in the past month on minor charges, including having an open container of alcohol and delinquency. It said he was from Bellevue, Nebraska, but was living in Quail Creek, near Omaha.One man who described himself as a friend of Hawkins told KETV he had moved from one low-wage job to another and was taking prescription medication for depression, as well as "doing other stuff he shouldn't have been doing."Most of the victims in Omaha were shot inside the Von Maur department store and the motive for the rampage was still being investigated, said Sgt. Teresa Negron of the midwestern city's police department.Negron said the gunman appeared to have died from a self-inflicted wound."It's hard to believe it would happen here," said Jennifer Bettger, 41, who had been shopping in the mall but left shortly before the shooting.One woman told KETV the gunman waas firing into the air inside the department store."I saw the guy in the children's department. He was tall, real tall," she said. "He had his hand straight up in the air, just shooting, not saying anything."President George W. Bush visited Omaha on Wednesday morning but had left the city hours before the incident, he was "deeply saddened by the shootings.""Having just visited with so many members of the community in Omaha today, the president is confident that they will pull together to comfort one another as they deal with this terrible tragedy," the White House said in a statement.

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Life in AmericaDec 6th, 2007 - 04:58:58

The combination of low-wage paying service jobs, coupled with the slow dissolving of the middle class, the increased lack of opportunities for kids in key demographics.. all of it combines to form a deadly cocktail of uncontrolled outburst of violence. The massacre at Virginia Tech comes to mind as another recent example.

Other sites are reporting he recently lost his job at McDonald's, broke up with his girlfriend, had no family support as his family had abandonded him (its unclear yet as to why, but my God the kid was only 19 how could any mother or father be so vicious as to abandon their own child). Thus, he was alone. Without any family, friends, job, or any other structures of support in his life, pillars the rest of us take for granted, he lost all hope and did the only thing left he could think of: he left this life.

I do find it ironic that Bush then comes out to say he's 'saddened by the shootings'. How quaint. The only tragedy here, is that all the while he's shipping out these kids jobs and opportunities overseas, leaving them with scant hope and a future, the only thing they have left is despair. If anyone is to blame here, it's Bush.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more of these type incidents in the news in the next few years.

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LeeDec 6th, 2007 - 09:56:53

There is only one option? What the ..?

Sympathy to all those who lost their lives and those affected.

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GordoDec 6th, 2007 - 14:27:36

This is the second deadly mall shooting in the past few months. I just keep thinking how unfortunate it was that no one at either mall or at Virginia Tech were carrying their own concealed weapons and could have possibly ended these shootings before so many innocent people had to die. It's very clear the bullies all carry weapons, when are the good people going to buy legal guns, learn to handle and fire them, and start carrying them too? Sorry, but it's the age we live in. It's time to defend yourself against these terrorists America.

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JonDec 7th, 2007 - 15:43:04

Yep - I want to be caught in the middle of a barrage of gunfire alright!!

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