Master Shake747

Today at about 1:40 pm a young male entered the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska and killed 8 people and injured 6 others. Then he took his own life. I only live about 45 min from where this happened. Pray for the victims and their families. This type of situation has never happened at any Omaha mall that I can remember.

LOT 737-300

Very sad, especially since that it happened at this time of the year, so it would hit those families even harder I would imagine.

Here are more details for those who didn't hear:
-The man was around 19-20 years old
-He was dressed in Camo and all ready for a war some would say
-He had a suicide note, which his mother turned over to the police, in it he mentioned that he "wanted to go out in style."

I hope that this kind of crap can be effectivly countered, it's really upsetting that it has happened 4 time already this year (according to CNN).

__________________
My airport: Nowa Warszawa Int'l NWL
http://www.freewebs.com/nwlairport
PM me if you want Fantasy Flights.
If you are interested in Joining BSA, please drop by our forum and make a post. http://s14.invisionfree.com/Bluesphe...ex.php?act=idx

dylan

Here is how I feel: It is sad when someone feels that they are out of options. That they hurt and struggle so bad with waking up in the morning, and going through life hurts too much, that taking their own life is the option. That to me is truly sad. Can you fu cking imagine that pain? Sad. I feel for the guy.

But, why in the FU CKdo you have to take out 8 people and injure six others in the process?????????????

__________________
mmmmm, beer.

qatar

Dylan, Did'nt I just read in one of these forums the other day that you were referred to as "insensitive"? You don't sound that insensitive to me! I totally agree with you 100%

__________________
THE BOEING 727-200
IS THE GREATEST MASTERPIECE
EVER ENTERED INTO THE WORLD OF AVIATION

nosegear

Thats pretty sad,im glad that these things dont happen here,(yet).hope not.

__________________
view my collection


http://www.diecastaircraftforum.com/...tion-4370.html

yyzjo777

R.I.P.

Omaha Mall Shooting Leaves Nine Dead

By OSKAR GARCIA,
AP
Posted: 2007-12-05 22:57:21
Filed Under: Nation News
OMAHA, Neb. (Dec. 5) - A man opened fire with a rifle at a busy department store Wednesday, killing eight people in an attack that made holiday shoppers run screaming through a mall and barricade themselves in dressing rooms.

The young shooter, who left a note predicting, "Now I'll be famous," wounded five others, two critically, then took his own life.

The gunman killed eight people at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday before turning the gun on himself. Police said five others were injured, two critically.

Witnesses said the gunman sprayed fired down on shoppers from a third-floor balcony of the Von Maur store. Police recovered an SKS assault rifle believed to have been used by the gunman.

"My knees rocked. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran with everybody else," said Kevin Kleine, 29, who was shopping with her 4-year-old daughter at the Westroads Mall, in a prosperous neighborhood on the city's west side. She said she hid in a dressing room with four other shoppers and an employee.

The shooter — 20-year-old Robert A. Hawkins of Bellevue, according to friends and a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about it — was found dead on the third floor with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and his victims were discovered on the second and third floors, police said.

Sgt. Teresa Negron said the gunman killed eight people, then apparently killed himself. Authorities gave no motive for the attack and said they did not know whether he said anything during the rampage.

After his family kicked him out, Hawkins lived for a little more than a year with a friend's family in a house in a middle-class Bellevue neighborhood, said Debora Maruca-Kovac, a nurse who along with her husband took in Hawkins, a friend of her sons.

"When he first came in the house, he was introverted, a troubled young man who was like a lost pound puppy that nobody wanted," Maruca-Kovac said.

Maruca-Kovac said Hawkins was fired from his job at a nearby McDonald's this week and had recently broken up with a girlfriend. She said he phoned her about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, telling her that he had left a note for her in his bedroom. She tried to get him to explain, but he hung up, she said.

She called Hawkins' mother, went to the Maruca-Kovacs' house, retrieved the suicide note — in which Hawkins wrote that he was "sorry for everything," would not be a burden on his family anymore and "now I'll be famous," she said — took it to authorities and went to work.

Hours later, Maruca-Kovac said, she saw victims being brought in to the Nebraska Medical Center, where she works.

Police received a 911 call from someone inside the mall, and shots could be heard in the background, Negron said. By the time officers arrived six minutes later, the shooting was over, she said.

"We sent every available officer in the city of Omaha," Negron said.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that the gunman had a military-style haircut and a black backpack, and wore a camouflage vest.

"Everybody was scared, and we didn't know what was going on," said Belene Esaw-Kagbara, 31, a Von Maur employee. "We didn't know what to do. I was praying that God protect us."

Mickey Vickory, who worked at Von Maur's third-floor service department, said she heard shots at about 1:50 p.m.

She and her co-workers and customers went into a back closet behind the wrapping room to hide, then emerged about a half-hour later when police shouted to come out with their hands up. As police took them to another part of the mall for safety, they saw the victims.

"We saw the bodies and we saw the blood," she said.

Keith Fidler, another Von Maur employee, said he heard a burst of five to six shots followed by 15 to 20 more rounds. Fidler said he huddled in the corner of the men's clothing department with about a dozen other employees until police yelled to get out of the store.

Witness Shawn Vidlak said the shots sounded like a nail gun. At first he thought it was noise from construction work at the mall.

"People started screaming about gunshots," Vidlak said. "I grabbed my wife and kids we got out of there as fast as we could."

Shortly after the shooting, which came three weeks before Christmas, a group of shoppers came out of the building with their hands raised. Some were still holding shopping bags.

Police told people to park their cars at businesses across from the mall and to wait for their loved ones, then directed them to an Omaha hotel to await information.

Nebraska Medical Center spokeswoman Andrea McMaster said it had three victims from the mall shooting, including a 61-year-old man in critical condition with a bullet wound to his chest.

Three victims were brought Creighton University Medical Center; two died and the other was critically wounded, spokeswoman Lisa Stites said.

By Wednesday evening, police were using a bomb robot to access a Jeep Cherokee left in the mall parking lot. Authorities believe the vehicle belonged to Hawkins. Officers had seen some wires under some clothing, but no bomb was found.

President Bush was in Omaha on Wednesday for a fundraiser, but left about an hour before the shooting.

"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," White House press secretary Dana Perino said.

The Von Maur store is part of a 22-store Midwestern chain. The sprawling, three-level mall has more than 135 stores and restaurants. It gets 14.5 million visitors every year, according to its Web site.

It was the second mass shooting at a mall this year. In February, nine people were shot, five of them fatally, at Trolley Square mall in Salt Lake City. The gunman, 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic, was shot and killed by police.

Associated Press writers Josh Funk, Timberly Ross and Eric Olson in Omaha and Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington contributed to this report.

__________________
I shop Aviation Delight
Jo-Anne

Talk Nerdy To Me, Lewis Skolnick!

LOT 737-300

The US has something very similar to that, the families usually have to pay for the costs of the Funeral, I also believe there is a Federal Death Tax, not sure if that was overturned or not. There might also be legal proceedings against the family too, which can cost some serious amounts of money in legal fees, Compensation (if the court demands it), and other things of the sort. I believe after the Columbine HS Shooting the families of the shooters were being sued by some families of the victims.

Trust me, usually when people are that desperate and upset at the world that they start pulling off this kind of crap. They don't give two Craps worth about anyone, including their families (which could've been the cause of his madness, as the article might suggest.)

__________________
My airport: Nowa Warszawa Int'l NWL
http://www.freewebs.com/nwlairport
PM me if you want Fantasy Flights.
If you are interested in Joining BSA, please drop by our forum and make a post. http://s14.invisionfree.com/Bluesphe...ex.php?act=idx

N. Eberhard

Absolutely horrible. With the number of mentally messed up people in this world I am surprised it doesn't happen on a daily basis. I guess flipping the bird to someone is therapeutic enough for most of the PO'd people out there but too bad it isn't good enough for the worst of the evil sickos like this guy in Omaha, the kids in Columbine, etc.

I dont know about you all, but when I am in public places (malls, concerts, etc) I keep my eye on those around me. 90% of people appear to be normal but those other 10% are questionable and a few of those appear to be right on the edge of insanity. Anybody that is extra loud and/or violent looking (especially groups of said people) are avoided at all costs by myself and my family.

Mystère

It seems our Dylan has a selective sensitivity...

What puzzles me most is that this kind of tragedy almost only happens in US.

__________________

LOT 737-300

Well, shootings at schools and malls and other such large places not very common in the US as it would be in places with more violent reputations such as Columbia (especially when the Drug war was at it's worst in the late 70s/80s, thats when bombings and shootings were very common place.) Not sure if it's still the case now though. Though I will admit, there are more of them this year, such as the school shootings that have happened recently. But in some of those cases, it was found that even the parent was helping the kid stockpile weapons, which is even more sick in my opinion than having the kid do it in secret.

__________________
My airport: Nowa Warszawa Int'l NWL
http://www.freewebs.com/nwlairport
PM me if you want Fantasy Flights.
If you are interested in Joining BSA, please drop by our forum and make a post. http://s14.invisionfree.com/Bluesphe...ex.php?act=idx

Don Clipper Spirit

I can remember simular shootings in Antwerp, Erfurt. Funny thing is that these sick things happen in both the US and the EU. While arms are prohibited in the EU...

__________________
Pan American World Airways - the world's most experienced airline

gospodin

Kind of a dumb remark. I suppose the French have no problems with murder or terrorism of any kind, must be a paradise where you live. Funny, but they were having problems with killings in Paris a few years back, I recall. Something about angry Muslims. You don't have to look very hard in the news to find things like this occurring around the world. Children being shot at a school in Scotland. People being eaten in Germany. Murders and mayhem in Africa, Asia, Russia, Australia and South America. Yeah, we have school and mall shootings...duh, who has a large population with access to guns? And neurotic losers who have to bring others down? My sympathy is lost when a person feels it necessary to kill others in order to "go out in style"...I don't sympathize with murderers, even if they are in the deepest pits of personal hell and depression. Go get help, it's not hard. Dylan is right that it's horrible if you have to sink that low in your life that nothing matters anymore...but not to the point where morality and humanity are lost, that's just psychosis. This guy succumbed to the idea that fame and notoriety are the same thing. Now, instead of being mourned by people who might have cared for him, he's reviled, his family shamed, and innocent people are gone. And nobody will remember his name outside of Omaha, anyway...so much for fame. But back to what you said, Mystere...why would you make that statement, except to rub our noses in it?

__________________
Steve


"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

N. Eberhard

Kinda status quo for him......and that's sad.

dc-8-556

Strange you feel that way about the shooter. I can see your side though.
However, 8 people got caught up in the crossfire, they didn't choose for that to happen. Just like all the pax and crew on the Turkish airliner last week, there was no choice for them.

Life has its turns and twists for everyone. We all have 'stuff' to deal with.

LOT 737-300

He was actually in and out of treatment centers, at least I recall that on the news. I'm not sure how they did help them, but with the most effective help being out of the way for most of these people (whether it's financial or something else, some good psycological help can go for very high rates, especially these days), we should just try not to purposly piss anyone else off as a cruel joke, and it's wise to teach our kids that too, most of these people end up being like that because of somebody's stupid kids that can't control their words (and school teachers and admins not giving a **** about them when the kid is being harassed, trust me, I've seen these people at work, the teacher will usually say "you're old enough, deal with it yourself" and admins will just make them sign a "no-contact contract" which is a piece of paper that means didly-squat as the same two people might sign 10 of them in a month period.) Catching this while it's still in a developmental stage is crucial, too bad those in charge see it from a different prospective.

__________________
My airport: Nowa Warszawa Int'l NWL
http://www.freewebs.com/nwlairport
PM me if you want Fantasy Flights.
If you are interested in Joining BSA, please drop by our forum and make a post. http://s14.invisionfree.com/Bluesphe...ex.php?act=idx

Mystère

What's your point ? That this sort of things (I mean student(s) going to its college and killing the most people he can) mostly happens in North America is a fact, and is REALLY not understandable to me. I was only trying to get some explanations from people living there, and thus probably more aware than me of what's going on there. That's all.

BTW, France is unfortunately not a paradise, and terrorist attacks we had in Paris in 1995 had nothing to do with "angry Muslims" (although I know it's easier to think that way), but merely with political fighting between France, Algerian government and FIS (an "islamic" front who fought a terrorist war in Algeria during 10 years). Having Arabs involved in terrorism doesn't necessarly means it has something do do with a religion war (which most of the time are ordinary war, "legitimated" by religion).

__________________

gospodin

My mother used to tell me, "It's not what you say, so much as how you say it." Your comment sounded more like a rhetorical question than a legitimate one...sorry if i took it the wrong way. But so many Europeans turn their noses up on America, get a snotty, superior attitude ("Well, things like that certainly don't happen here"...sniff), and I just get tired of reading about more America-bashing. We're not perfect, and our country has done some pretty despicable things...but as Jesus said, "Whosoever is without sin, cast the first stone." The main thing I blame for the rise in suicide massacres is television, video games and movies. We live in a culture that seems to glorify these things, and there are so many tormented and confused individuals out there who can't separate reality from fiction. A normal, well-adjusted individual who, for whatever reason, falls into depression and is exposed to high stress, isn't going to go on a killing spree. But the sad fact is that the persons who aren't well-adjusted, who have a predisposition to violence and cruelty...or even a latent streak of it...tend to gravitate to violent, sadistic media for enjoyment. then when they finally lose it, they also have access to weapons. I support the NRA, and have quite a few guns myself, but our society has such unlimited access to guns, it's not surprising that we have these episodes. You live in a free society, and it's always tricky staying away from anarchy...where do you draw the line between personal freedom and restrictions of that freedom? In a smaller, older society like in France, there are thousands of years of trials establishing a decent, orderly and free society. The US is still very young, and very large, so we will continue having to deal with situations like this...our population is still relatively unstable in our dealings with race and illegal immigrants. Hopefully, one day people will change for the better. I'm not counting on it in my lifetime.

__________________
Steve


"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

LOT 737-300

Actually, I notice that the arguments that Ambulance Chasers like Jack Thompson give (which are similar to yours, but a whole lot more rediculous, and horribly misinformed) are just highly invalid when looked further into detail. Most of the people I notice go onto this **** are people that are highly sheltered, never got chance at many friends whether it's because of society's general dislike for them or untreated psycological conditions. If left untreated, it lets the darkness inside them grow to the point where they would pull off this kind of stuff like this. The stuff that the shooters play and watch is what also what everyone else is watching and playing, they only represent a small percentage of the population who plays or watches these things.

Let me tell you, I bet you all of the shooters "friends" that are saying how normal minded he was and so on were probebly the same people that told him they didn't want to hear about his problems and that he should figure out how to deal with them himself.

The shooter that is the topic of this thread in the before the tragedy had:
-Been dumped by his girlfriend (very shortly before).
-Lost his job at McD's (very shortly before)
-Been kicked out of his first house by his stepmother and been to many foster homes and treatment centers (what type of treatment it was, it's beyond me, though it seems like it was ineffective) (5 years ago, still can have a large impact).

No matter what country you live in, you'll still have this kind of stuff happening, even if it is in the US, France, Russia, Germany, Poland, Antartica, or evenGeorge Orwell's Oceanaia (from Nineteen Eighty-Four). It won't matter if the media glorfies it or not. I personally blame Parents (of the shooter for not helping them find friends, and ones who don't teach their kids to repspect others, the school system (for doing ABSOLUTLY NOTHING helpful), and the media (mostly the news media and many TV shows, for saying there is only one type of acceptable person, and everyone else should be rediculed).

__________________
My airport: Nowa Warszawa Int'l NWL
http://www.freewebs.com/nwlairport
PM me if you want Fantasy Flights.
If you are interested in Joining BSA, please drop by our forum and make a post. http://s14.invisionfree.com/Bluesphe...ex.php?act=idx

champpitbull2

It happened in Germany only a few weeks ago

gospodin

I've known many, many people who've had rough times throughout their lives...people abused by relatives; abandoned by uncaring, unsympathetic parents; troubled by psychological or physical problems. Not one of them ever shot anyone, or let that abuse destroy their lives. You CAN rise above your situation...no matter h