A Visit To The Mall, Then Gunshots

(CBS/AP)  Jeff Schaffart did not realize right away that the bangs he heard at Westroads Mall were gunshots.

Then he saw the blood streaming down his left arm and felt a stinging pain there.

"I could hear my wife, Carrie, yell, 'Get down! Get down!"' he said, "but I didn't."

Schaffart, 34, an Omaha attorney, and wife Carrie were on the third floor of the Von Maur department store Wednesday when a man began shooting, forcing holiday shoppers to flee and barricade themselves in dressing rooms.

Robert A. Hawkins, 19, killed eight people before turning his gun on himself, in a shooting rampage at an Omaha shopping mall, police said.

"I thought they were balloons or, you know, some kind of construction going on," Schaffert told CBS' The Early Show.

He and his wife eventually made their way into the women's restroom up there on the third floor.

The 34-year-old attorney used a necktie as a tourniquet to staunch the bleeding.

"The bleeding, thankfully, was not that bad, he told The Early Show.

Medical center representatives said they treated two other victims from the mall shooting: Fred Wilson, 61, who suffered a bullet wound to his chest. He had been in surgery for about six hours and was in critical condition in the intensive care unit Wednesday night. Wilson is a retired English teacher and was working as a customer service manager at Von Maur, a spokesman said.

Also hurt, a 55-year-old male who cut his face when he ran into a clothing rack. He was discharged.

Creighton University Medical Center spokeswoman Lisa Stites said one victim was dead upon arrival there, another died sometime after arriving, and a third, a woman, was in critical condition late Wednesday.

"I feel exceedingly lucky and fortunate to have made it through today," said Schaffart. "My heart goes out to those that didn't, and the families of those that weren't so lucky."

[kindrox]

* You make yourself look more like an idiot,everytime you post. *

This day in age, people with the facts are idiots and people with baseless opinions are smart.

What can you do.

[erasmus6]

kindrox

You make yourself look more like an idiot,everytime you post.

[kindrox]

This forum is completely chock full of morons who say nobody can defend themselves for this and that reason. Idots who don''t have a shred of experiance.

Average people defend themselves EVERY DAY.

http://www.claytoncramer.com/gundefenseblog/blogger.html

[erasmus6]

"I wonder if you could settle the dispute between you and a would be rapist with a gun? You know, the dispute where you don"t want to be raped and the rapist is not taking "no" for an answer? posted by kindrox


If a woman is walking down the street or wherever, the rapist is going to surprise her. He isn''t going to announce, halfway down the street, "hey, I am going to rape you now". That means that unless she is carrying it in her hand, it is VERY UNLIKELY that she is going to get the opportunity to get ahold of that gun. AND if the rapist sees her going for the gun, she could very well end up dead for trying, whereas she may have been able to get away with her life otherwise.

[gunownerdan]

animalwoman said:
"..I would never purposely hurt anyone. I''m the last person anyone has to worry about becoming violent."

I feel the same way about myself but unfortunately a lot of sick people out there are exactly the opposite. It is just plain wrong to force good people to be totally defenseless against violent criminals.

[kindrox]

* What you have then is a WAR, in which even more people will be killed. *

So what you are saying is that if a criminal chooses you as a would be victim, it"s best to simply be willingly slaughtered because defending yourself could lead to injury of others? If that works for you, great.

But it does not work for me. Why are you trying to impose your values on others?

[kindrox]

* Who among us does not know the proliferation of Assault weapons in a civil society is dangerous and a direct threat to our lives and that of our neighbors. *

Just how are my legally owned and so called "assualt weapons" a direct threat to my life or my neightbors?

[kindrox]

* You''''d probably shot me if I burped. *

I have been carrying a gun for about 10 years now. I have not shot anyone yet, or pulled it. My wife has been carrying for a couple of months now. Same thing.

But then again, we have never been involved as would be victims of a crime either.

[kindrox]

* Nothing can be settle with a gun. *

I wonder if you could settle the dispute between you and a would be rapist with a gun? You know, the dispute where you don"t want to be raped and the rapist is not taking "no" for an answer?

Just how do you propose to settle this "dispute"?

[robertkjjj]

Nenaof5 says "Not everyone that has a terrible childhood walks into a store, school, mall, church etc and starts randomly killing innocent people." Uh, ya think? You''d have been a lot more accurate had you said "99.999% of people who have a terrible childhood do not become mass murderers." Of course, most Americans being mathematically and statistically ignorant would have negated your intended effect. Mass murderers such as this are extremely rare. This rareness is one of the very reasons the media jumps all over such stories. Trying to understand these killers or prevent this type of crime is pure futility. There will always be these rare and random psychopaths that choose to take others with them, rather than just committing solo suicide like a "normal" depressed loser. We''ll never be able to spot all these rare killers in advance.