Cedar Rapids Weather
Police Provide More Details on Actions Omaha of Shooter
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The mall remains closed today, as authorities continue to investigate the shooting and what may have prompted it.
A southwest Iowa man is among the eight people who were killed by a shooter Wednesday at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska. John McDonald, 65, of Council Bluffs was a customer who died in a store before emergency crews arrived. That's according to what his son-in-law, Joe Shehan, told the World-Herald. Police believe that the 19-year-old who opened fire in a Nebraska shopping mall Wednesday had stolen the assault rifle he used from his stepfather's home. They say the weapon was an AK-47. Omaha police say the 19-year-old who carried out the killings may have smuggled the gun into the mall underneath some clothing. Police Chief Thomas Warren says surveillance video shows the gunman apparently ''concealing something balled up in a hooded sweat shirt.'' Shoppers and employees in the mall ran in terror, and hid in dressing rooms and offices, as the shooter sprayed the third floor of the Von Maur store with gunfire. Police say the eight people he killed included six employees and two customers. Five more people were wounded, including one man who remains hospitalized in critical condition. One panicked shopper cut his face when he ran into a clothing rack. They say Hawkins apparently chose his victims at random. Video surveillance shows him entering the store on the second level. He then took the elevator to the third floor and started firing immediately after he got off the elevator. He then went to the customer service area, shot several more people, and then killed himself. The shooting was over by the time officers arrived on the scene. Police have identified the gunman as Robert Hawkins. He's described as a troubled young man. Hawkins was either kicked out of his parents' home or left on his own some time ago, and moved in with a couple whose sons were friends with him. He had recently split with his girlfriend and had been fired from his job at McDonald's. In a suicide note, he wrote that he was ``sorry for everything,'' adding, quote, ``Now I'll be famous.'' More Good Stuff |
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