US News

Omaha Mall employees hard hit by shooting deaths

By M&C US News Dec 6, 2007, 16:38 GMT

Names of the Omaha shooting victims were revealed by Police Chief Thomas Warren on Thursday.

Debra Maruca-Kovac, caretaker of Robert Hawkins, the man suspected of killing eight people and then committing suicide in an Omaha, Nebraska, USA, shopping center, speaks to reporters outside her home in Bellevue, Nebraska, USA, on 05 December 2007. Hawkins came to live with Maruca's family a little over a year ago. She found his suicide note after he called her to thank her for her generosity. EPA/JILL PEITZMEIER NO MAGS, NO SALESThey are: Gary Scharf, 48, a customer and resident of Lincoln; John McDonald, 65, a customer and resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Angie Schuster, 36, an employee; Maggie Webb, 24, an employee; Janet Jorgenson, 66, an employee; Diane Trent, 53, an employee; Gary Joy, 56, an employee; and Beverly Flynn, 47, an employee.The wounded: are Fred Wilson, 61, and Michelle Oldham, 65, who were both critical but stable on Thursday morning.Jeff Schafford, 34, and Brad Stafford, 55, were both treated and released.Robert A. Hawkins, 19, described as a depressed young man with a history of being in foster care, opened fire at 1:42 p.m. Wednesday. Surveillance video shows Hawkins entering the second level of Von Maur store about six minutes before police received the first call for shots fired. Hawkins was hiding and AK-47 in a black sweatshirt. Authorities think at least 30 rounds were fired from his AK-47 rifle. Hawkins apparently left two suicide notes and a will, prompting authorities to call the shootings premeditated. CNN reports that Hawkins left voice and text messages for his mother, friends, an ex-girlfriend and that Hawkins visited a friend near Westroads before the shooting.Gov. Dave Heineman said Hawkins became a ward of the state on Sept. 17, 2002, but parental rights were not terminated and none of his siblings were state wards. Hawkins was terminated as a state ward on Aug. 24, 2006. He said the court is reviewing those orders and the state will talk more about it at a 2 p.m. news conference on Thursday.Heineman ordered flags to half staff through Sunday as the state grieves."Like most Nebraskans, I'm shocked. I'm stunned and I'm still in disbelief. Our entire state is grieving," Heineman said.Mayor Mike Fahey offered the city's thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims, and that the city will unite against "evil.""These were innocent people going about their daily lives and shopping for the holiday. While it is impossible to make sense of the events that have occurred -- this was an act of cowardice," Fahey said. We are a community who will grieve this loss. Omaha is a good city with wonderful people. We will not accept this evil act."Von Maur will be closed indefinitely, but Warren said he expects the rest of Westroads to open on Friday.Warren said police presence at all Omaha malls will be stepped up through the holidays.The main location of the shooting happened at the Von Maur customer service desk.Westroads Mall will be closed Thursday as police continue their investigation.Hawkins dropped out of Papillion-La Vista High School a couple of years ago, friends said. Recently, he had been arrested on suspicion of minor in possession of alcohol, had lost a job at McDonald's and had broken up with a girlfriend. He was living in a Bellevue home with the family of some friends.Debora Maruka-Kovac said she took Hawkins in because he had emotional issues and she wanted to provide him a safe place to stay."He was very troubled," Maruka-Kovac said on Wednesday night. "I had no idea this troubled. I just can't believe it. I just can't believe it. He's a friend of my son's from school. He's living at a couple of different places. We took him in. We had two boys. We thought: what was one more if we could help?"Maruka-Kovac said Hawkins lived with her, her husband and their two sons. She said that the last time she saw him, she thought he was going to pick up his eyeglasses. The last time she talked to him, about 40 minutes before the shooting was reported to police, he told her he was sorry to be a burden and thanked her for taking him in. He also told her for the first time that he had been fired."I tried to talk to him and say, 'Come on home. We'll work it out,'" Maruka-Kovac said.She said he told her it was too late, and that he'd left some notes in his room to explain why."He wrote, 'I'm a piece of s*** and now I'm going to be famous,'" she said.Maruka-Kovac said she found the notes, called Hawkins' mother and then the police. It wasn't long before reports of the shooting were everywhere."I had a sick feeling when I heard about it," she said. "I can't believe he would go this far. He was a good-hearted kid. He was just going through some rough times."

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bobDec 6th, 2007 - 21:21:41

a wunderful a wunderful. makes my day

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indiana1616Dec 6th, 2007 - 21:22:14

So OK........ your life sucks. Go out in the woods and pull the trigger, end your life............... do it where there is no mess to clean up and nobody else gets hurt. Only a coward would go to a mall to take people out with him so he can be famous

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yahDec 6th, 2007 - 21:38:40

nut cases all over the country.

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kylie rogersDec 6th, 2007 - 23:05:37

my grandma works there and today was her day off
so she went with my aunt and godchild...as they were
leaving my grandma went upstairs to the customer service
to say hi to all of her friends while my aunt went and got
the car. As my aunt was getting off the elevator the gunman
was 2. My aunt was on the elevator with him. Then my grandma heard
the gunshots and went and hid with 2 other women. The man tried to
open the door to the back of customer service but he didnt know how to.
She said when she was taken out by the cops she saw blood coming from
her friends.

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U.S. CitizenDec 6th, 2007 - 23:47:22

He should have been exterminated at birth!

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AndersonDec 7th, 2007 - 00:29:47

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AndersonDec 7th, 2007 - 00:35:25

'These were innocent people going about their daily lives and shopping for the holiday. While it is impossible to make sense of the events that have occurred -- this was an act of cowardice,' Fahey said. We are a community who will grieve this loss. Omaha is a good city with wonderful people. We will not accept this evil act.'

First of all, who is innocent? Who is innocent of what? What are daily lives and what does it matter to a situation where they were shot with an AK-47? Does shopping make you an innocent person? Does shopping make you a good person? It is impossible to make sense of the events that have occurred, so long as you still have a stilted, subjective view of a situation. There is no act of cowardice, no act of bravery. You are a community who will grieve this loss. You are community who will never understand violence. Omaha is a city, good or bad, depends on who's flapping their gums. Wonderful or horrible, 'evil' or 'good', what does this have to do with the situation at hand?

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donieDec 7th, 2007 - 00:43:41

probally a seed of geo w. bush

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Gurmit SinghDec 7th, 2007 - 02:28:52

Ban Guns. But wait..That will hurt Bush's cronies.

Just wonder why USA calls middle-easterns and third world countries un-civilized?. Un-civilized are right here at home.

Why was he frustrated? Because no moral values are taught to kids at home (to busy) or at school or somewhere else.

Wake up people, do you want your kids growing up like that?

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Ted from OmahaDec 9th, 2007 - 15:26:17

One thing that I can't keep thinking about. Last Sunday the front page of the Omaha World Herald printed an article about Charles Starkweather, the teen who terrorized the midwest on a killing rampage in the 50's. The tee forever remembered for his heinous acts. I can't help wondering if Hawkings read that article last weekend. Now, this Sunday the Mall Massacre (the media gave it a nice catchy name) is the front page headline story for the Omaha World Herald. I think the media, including television media, help glamorize these crimes and give people with personal problems and identity problems this idea that they will be famous after their death. My condolences to all the families touched by this tragedy and needless lose of life.

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Omaha Mall employees hard hit by shooting deaths

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