Omaha Mall Massacre

Police Say 20-Year-Old Gunman Killed 8 People, Wounded 5 Others, Before Killing Himself

(CBS/AP)  A man opened fire in a busy Omaha, Neb., department store Wednesday, killing eight people and wounding five others before allegedly killing himself in an attack that sent holiday shoppers screaming through a mall as others barricaded themselves in dressing rooms.

Witnesses said the gunman 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.

The young shooter, identified by police as 20-year-old Robert A. Hawkins of Bellevue, Neb., left a suicide note which included the grim prediction: "Now I'll be famous."

Police have not said anything about the motive, if it is in fact known to them. But Hawkins had suffered a string of setbacks over the past year. A family friend says he recently broke up with a girlfriend and got fired, and a source tells CBS News affiliate KMTV that he tried, but failed, to get into the Army.

According to Sgt. Teresa Negron, police received a 911 call from someone inside the mall, and shots could be heard in the background. She says by the time officers arrived - six minutes later - the shooting was over.

"We sent every available officer in the city of Omaha," said Negron, who did not know whether the gunman said anything during the rampage to hint at a motive.

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

"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.

Authorities say Hawkins was found dead on the third floor with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, and his victims were discovered on the second and third floors.

Hawkins dropped out of Papillion-La Vista High School in Papillion, Neb., in the spring of 2006 and was kicked out by his family that same year.

After staying at the homes of a number of friends for a few days at a time, he wound up moving in with the family of surgical nurse Debora Maruca-Kovac, who with her husband, took in Hawkins, a friend of her two teenaged 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.

Hawkins, according to Maruca-Kovac, was not on any medication for mental illness, but he had been treated in the past for depression and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

"He was depressed, and he had always been depressed," Maruca-Kovac said. "But he looked like he was getting better."

"He was a very helpful young man, but he was quiet," Maruca-Kovac said. "He didn't cause a lot of trouble. He tried to help out all the time. He was very thankful for everything. He wasn't a violent person at all."

Hawkins, she said, was gentle and loved animals, liked music and video games, but had a drinking problem and would occasionally smoke marijuana in his bedroom.

Maruca-Kovac says Hawkins recently suffered two new setbacks, breaking up two weeks ago with his longtime girlfriend, and earlier this week, getting fired from his job at a nearby McDonald's.

At 1 p.m. Wednesday, he called Maruca-Kovac, telling her that he'd left a note for her in his bedroom. She says she tried to get him to explain, but he hung up.

Maruca-Kovac then called Hawkins' mother, who went to the Maruca-Kovacs' house and retrieved the note, which she took to authorities.

In the note, Hawkins wrote that he loved his parents and other family members, was "sorry for everything," would no longer be a burden to them, wanted his mom to have his Jeep, and his friends to have "whatever they want."

Maruca-Kovac did not hear about the shooting - which a witness said began around 1:50 p.m. - until she arrived at work at Nebraska Medical Center, where she saw patients being wheeled in.

"I had a feeling it could be him," said Maruca-Kovac, who had read the note before turning it over to his mother.

[trapper4life]

Guns Dont kill People Kill some of us use guns for hunting only takes 1 dip *** like this guy to get people to want to hardin our gun laws Its *** alotta people get killed in car wrecks are we going to ban cars you fruit bat.

[alexalee2]

also, people are saying that hes not famous. guess what. he is. look how many of u have posted things just since yesterday. its just like charles starkwether 50 years ago who went on a killing spree with his girlfriend here in lincoln. i wasnt born that time, but people still talk about it today. 50 years later. its only been a day and its all over. im not defending him by any means. im just saying people all over the world know about it. he got his wish of being famous. but it was horrible wat he did to get there.

[alexalee2]

i live in nebraska. well, i live in lincoln, its an hour away from omaha. but a man from lincoln was killed yesterday. and worse, he was my best friends neighbor and he was planning on marrying his ex wife soon. its horrible. everybody here is affected by this. there is a lot of information about the victims. just for u that would like to know. i was gunna go to westroads yesterday to go shopping for christmas. thank god i didnt. not many things happen here in nebraska. so robert hawkins will be famous. not for a good reason, but hes famous. hes all the talk at schools and radio stations and tv. im a freshman at one of the high schools and in all 4 of my classes, someone brought it up at least once. the man is famous but its a horrible thing to be famous for. my dad is doing one of the victims funerals, cuz he is a funeral director. its so sad. im glad that robert hawkins took his own life. the victims didnt deserve wat happened to them

[snelson6280]

Its a sad story, I mean whats america coming to these days? We all have a rough life but thats what lifes about, nothing comes free and it sure in the heck doesn''t come on a golden platter. (Guysdigdirt) I totally agree with you on the news and radio stations, they need to leave out so much details about the killer and talk more about the ones that lost there lives. I mean come on now there just encouraging people to kill to be on T.v and radio stations, so now everyone in the world will know who they are. I think we need tougher gun control.

I send out my condolence''s to the familys that lost a loved one.

[lewiston14]

snelson6280: They did do a story on the victoms with what little information they had it''s on the CBS front page

[snelson6280]

Its a sad story, I mean whats america coming to these days? We all have a rough life but thats what lifes about, nothing comes free and it sure in the heck doesn''t come on a golden platter. (Guysdigdirt) I totally agree with you on the news and radio stations, they need to leave out so much details about the killer and talk more about the ones that lost there lives. I mean come on now there just encouraging people to kill to be on T.v and radio stations, so now everyone in the world will know who they are. I think we need tougher gun control.

I send out my condolence''s to the familys that lost a loved one.

[snelson6280]

Its a sad story, I mean whats america coming to these days? We all have a rough life but thats what lifes about, nothing comes free and it sure in the heck doesn''t come on a golden platter. (Guysdigdirt) I totally agree with you on the news and radio stations, they need to leave out so much details about the killer and talk more about the ones that lost there lives. I mean come on now there just encouraging people to kill to be on T.v and radio stations, so now everyone in the world will know who they are.

I send out my condolence''s to the familys that lost a loved one.

[lewiston14]

guysdigdirt: I did not ask the question of gun ownership. I only replied to someones question. Not having one around here is just asking for trouble. Based on population numbers we have a higher murder rate then NYC. Mostly drug or gang related. Im not going to stand around with my hands covering my Ba-LLS if somebody desides to open the door with a shot gun I can tell you that. Gated comunities work well also

[lewiston14]

This kid wanted to be famous

I dont think that is going to fly as they pick up his teeth off the floor. If he is famous I don''t think he knows it. Famous no way. Two weeks from now nobody will even remember his name.

[snelson6280]

Its a sad story, I mean whats america coming to these days? We all have a rough life but thats what lifes about, nothing comes free and it sure in the heck doesn''t come on a golden platter. (Guysdigdirt) I totally agree with you on the news and radio stations, they need to leave out so much details about the killer and talk more about the ones that lost there lives. I mean come on now there just encouraging people to kill to be on T.v and radio stations, so now everyone in the world will know who they are.

I send out my condolence''s to the familys that lost a loved one.

[jayallison61]

If we could band together as a nation and stop giving the people attention that do this, maybe things will change. This guy lived a loser and died a loser. End of story on him. Please report on the wonderful people that the loser took away from this life. Did he take doctors, mailman, mothers, fathers, young undecided lives? Please report on the ones that should be in the news and leave the loser anonymous.

[nutsie11]

LISTEN UP AMERICA!!! THIS KID HAD PROBLEMS-I WENT THROUGH THE SAME *** IN THE STATE OF NEBRASKA AS FAR AS BEING A WARD OF STATE. MY MOM WENT INTO DRUG ALCHOHOL TREATMENT WHEN I WAS 12. NOBODY ELSE WOULD TAKE MY LITTLE BROTHER & I, SO THIS IS WHERE WE ENDED UP FOR 5 1/2 YRS.YOU DONT THINK I FELT ABANDONED,LEFT ALONE,NOBODY WANTS ME,SAD,AND ALL THE OTHER EMOTOINS THAT GO ALONG WITH BEING SCARED,AND SAD BECAUSE MY MOM & FAMILY DIDNT WANT ME.BUT, I OVERCAME THIS BY GETTIN TOUGH,AND FINALLY, AT AGE 24,PULLED MY HEAD OUT OF BUTT &REALIZE ITS ME THAT CAUSED MY OWN PROBLEMS. I FEEL SAD FOR THIS LOST PERSON, BUT I ALSO WOULD OF GOT MY WIFE & SON OUT OF HARMS WAY, THEN I WOULD HAVE STARTED MY HUNT FOR THE SHOOTER.I WOULD HAVE KILLED HIM BEFORE HE SHOOT SO MANY,TRUST ME ON THIS.BUT,WE ARE BEING KEPT FROM PROTECTING OURSELVES BY NOT BEING ABLE TO CARRY A GUN IN SOCIETY.I MEAN ARENT THESE BAD GUYS GETTIN GUNS TO KILL WITH ANYWAY? I FEEL A LITTLE DISADVANTAGE COMES IN TO PLAY..........THINK ABOUT IT?

[guysdigdirt]

People who believe more gun ownership is the answer are uneducated, ignorant fools. America has one of the highest gun ownership rates in the world, and also one of the highest murder rates. Is it possible there is a correlation there? It''''s also scary that some people like this psychopath possibly do end up in our military.
Posted by swilke54

So you think it is all about the number of guns and that links directly to the number of crimes and deaths. You are right in that respect, but wrong in the direction.

Washington has notlegal gun ownership by law abiding citizens, but the highest crime rate in the nation.

Russia has very rare gun ownership by law abiding citizens, but their crime, murder and suicide rates have been climbing while the same rates have been dropping in America as gun ownership has risen.

Get educated and do not believe all the rhetoric the control people tell you.

[guysdigdirt]

You can move away from a knike or club you can''''t move out of the way of a bullet.
Posted by georgeviv

You cannot move away from a car crashing into a crowd of people, you cannot move away from a knife if the person is too close or too big, you cannot move from a bomb made of fertilizer. Are those weapons to be blamed also, or the criminal?

[guysdigdirt]

Oh SPARE us - do you know how many criminals kill in the NAME of thier "god"????
Posted by ScarletPhD

Too many, but stick to the issue and stop twisting your arguements when you have not the ability to put together a sane thought with substantiation.

PHD? Like Heck!! You only have an education in being inane!!

[guysdigdirt]

At least one person was shot Wednesday at a busy mall in Nebraska..."

Some random disgruntled loser who had a gun and used it instead of acting out his frustrations by swinging a stick.
Posted by ScarletPhD

So if they swing a stick, or use a knife of run a car into a crowd of christmas shoppers it is better than using a gun? You are the classic head up your butt richard cranium!!

[guysdigdirt]

What is, after all, so effing great about owning guns??? What''''''''s the attraction?

It baffles me. You don''''''''t need them.

For me it was the thrill of the tin can hunt. I never killed a living thing. Took a couple of professional classes on the operation of various weapons and can hit that beer can from a mile and a half away. These rifles have sat silent for 10 years now. I do keep an assault weapon on standby in the slim chance that somebody wants break in and rob or hurt somebody. He won%u2019t even make it through the kitchen. It has a REAL LONG clip
Posted by lewiston14

You ask why gun owners want to have guns then you go on to say you have one for protection. Why do you want one?

Do you think if the gun control nuts get their way and take away only the guns some peopel say are not necessary, they will stop there?

[guysdigdirt]

This kid wanted to be famous, and he is the top story in every national headline today, giving him everything he wanted. I wish the media would take the stance of a local radio station here. They will talk about the victims, the tragedy, all the details that matter. But they REFUSE to mention the killers name or any details about his life.
Posted by umprw05

I agree with you here, why do the news media need to include his name, it is not a needed thing.

[georgeviv]

If the general public were not allowed guns, all that would have happend is one person may have been stabbed or one person may have been injured with a baseball bat. Having a gun makes any incident of anger or maddness into a multiple fatality incident. You can move away from a knike or club you can''t move out of the way of a bullet.

[guysdigdirt]

But the Concealed Gun Law did nothing to deter or prevent the tragic loss of life in a shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska."
Posted by chitown639 at 09:34 AM : Dec 06, 2007

That is like saying there was a high school girl that got pregnant, so birth control will never work.

Do your homework if you want to make a statment. States with concealed carry rights have lower crime rates, overall, than non-carry states.

There is a city in the United States, almost a nation unto itself, that does not allow the citizens to have firearms. That city has the highest crime rate in the nation. Both characters of the city listed here have been so for 20 years. No gun, highest crime- Washington DC. Guns do not kill people, people kill people.