Quote :

"Mall Shooter's Suicide Note: 'Now I'll Be Famous' Mall_Shooting By OSKAR GARCIA Associated Press Writer Posted: Today at 5:24 a.m. Updated: Today at 6:30 a.m. OMAHA, Neb. — The teenager carried his rifle into the mall, passing shoppers and decorations. A department store employee was pressing a suit for a customer. A woman was making a quick stop to buy Christmas presents before picking up her son from school. Christmas music played. The gunman stopped on the third floor and cut through the sounds with gunfire. Shoppers and employees at the Westroads Mall scrambled for cover in dressing rooms, clothing racks, offices and storage areas. Eight people were killed and five wounded before the shooter ended the horror by taking his own life. He left behind a note that read, in part, "Now I'll be famous." Robert A. Hawkins, 19, had recently split with his girlfriend and been fired from McDonald's. He had a criminal record and had been kicked out of his parents' house. Police Chief Thomas Warren said the shooting appeared to be random. He would not release the victims' identities Wednesday night and gave no motive for the attack, but promised more details in a news conference scheduled for Thursday morning. Hawkins was kicked out by his family about a year ago. He moved in with a friend's family, and Debora Maruca-Kovac and her husband welcomed him into their home and tried to help him. "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 told The Associated Press. She told the Omaha World-Herald that the night before the shooting, Hawkins and her sons showed her an SKS semiautomatic Russian military rifle - the same type used in the shooting. She said she thought the gun belonged to a member of Hawkins' family. She said she didn't think much of it - the gun looked too old to work. Records in Sarpy and Washington counties showed Hawkins had a felony drug conviction and several misdemeanor cases filed against him, including an arrest 11 days before the shooting for having alcohol as a minor. He was due in court in two weeks. Maruca-Kovac said Hawkins was fired from his job at a McDonald's this week and had recently broken up with a girlfriend. She said he phoned her at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, telling her he had left a note. She tried to get him to explain. "He said, 'It's too late,'" and hung up, she told CNN. She then called Hawkins' mother. In the note, which was turned over to authorities, Hawkins wrote that he was "sorry for everything" and would not be a burden on his family anymore. More ominously, he wrote, "Now I'll be famous." Maruca-Kovac went to her job as a nurse at the Nebraska Medical Center, where victims of the shooting soon began to arrive. The first 911 call came in at 1:42 p.m., and the shooting was already over when police arrived six minutes later, authorities said. "We sent every available officer in the city of Omaha," Sgt. Teresa Negron said. "They came to the mall in lights and sirens." The World-Herald reported that the gunman had a military-style haircut and a black backpack, and wore a camouflage vest. Hawkins opened fire in a Von Maur store, part of a Midwestern chain. Mickey Vickory, who worked in the store's third-floor service department, said she heard shots and went with coworkers and customers into a back closet, emerging about a half-hour later when police shouted to come out with their hands up. As police led 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." Nebraska Medical Center spokeswoman Andrea McMaster said the hospital had three victims from the mall shooting, including Fred Wilson, 61, who was in critical condition early Thursday with a bullet wound to his chest. Another critically wounded victim was at Creighton University Medical Center, spokeswoman Lisa Stites said. On Wednesday night, police used a bomb robot to access a Jeep Cherokee left in the mall parking lot that authorities believe 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 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."

The kid had a shitty life, wants to end it, and then decides to take 8 other people with him? I hope hes rotting in hell right now.

12/6/2007 9:23:06 AM

If you seriously want to off yourself, just do it and leave the rest of us alone.

12/6/2007 9:27:54 AM

Why does this usually have to be a white kid? I just don't get it.....

12/6/2007 9:30:33 AM

12/6/2007 9:31:28 AM

Another tragedy brought to you by the second amendment

12/6/2007 9:53:41 AM

fo real

we need to get rid of all guns

and we can--simply by making them illegal

guns are bad, M'KAY?

[Edited on December 6, 2007 at 10:05 AM. Reason : [/WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!]

12/6/2007 10:02:58 AM

Which amendment do I blame for all those stabbings, rapes, muggings, and other non-gun crimes? I need a scapegoat here, people!

12/6/2007 10:03:47 AM

THE 2ND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE TOO!!

IT'S EEEEEEEVVIL!!

12/6/2007 10:06:25 AM

Oh come on folks, it's so obvious: The 1st admendment. Stop giving people the right to express themselves! Make people feel like they can't do crap about their lives and they'll just die in a hole somewhere knowing they can't do anything about it.






j/k

12/6/2007 10:11:24 AM

i think part of the problem was the note he left. "now i'll be famous" we "glorify" (term loosely used) these criminals, by putting them all over the news, and becomes the topic of many conversations in the following weeks (recall VT shootings). These sick troubled people, ignored and abused throughout their lives, feel they can redeem themselves by putting their name into history. This is problem at hand here, not guns themselves, or not giving enough care to kids.

12/6/2007 10:19:05 AM

^
True
from Arthur Bremer, to Hinckley, to Mark Chapman, to the Columbine guys.... all looking for fame and significance with the barrel of a gun.

12/6/2007 10:23:44 AM

he reminds me of the one reoccuring geek in freaks and geeks who was older than the main characters. cant remember his name.

12/6/2007 10:25:26 AM

^richard something?

12/6/2007 10:47:15 AM

Quote :

"i think part of the problem was the note he left. "now i'll be famous" we "glorify" (term loosely used) these criminals, by putting them all over the news, and becomes the topic of many conversations in the following weeks (recall VT shootings). These sick troubled people, ignored and abused throughout their lives, feel they can redeem themselves by putting their name into history. This is problem at hand here, not guns themselves, or not giving enough care to kids."

Like i said, it's a 1st amendment issue.

12/6/2007 10:59:19 AM

vs

Harris Trinsky was the character's name

wow..its almost scary how similar they look

[Edited on December 6, 2007 at 11:54 AM. Reason : ]

12/6/2007 11:53:06 AM

Quote :

"In the note, which was turned over to authorities, Hawkins wrote that he was "sorry for everything" and would not be a burden on his family anymore. More ominously, he wrote, "Now I'll be famous.""

And so in his final act he made his family pariahs for having raised such a violent, sick person.

12/6/2007 12:48:52 PM

^^^
WELL CLEARLY THE 1ST AND 2ND AMENDMENTS HAVE GOT TO GO!!

I MEAN,

WHAT GOOD ARE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTIONS OF INDIVIDUAL CIVIL LIBERTIES,

IF THEY CAN'T PREVENT 100% OF ALL CRIMES FROM HAPPENING?

WHAT WOULD REALLY REDUCE GUN CRIME, AND THEREFORE MAKE THE WORLD BETTER,

IS IF WE SIMPLY BAN GUNS AND CENSOR SPEECH

DURR DURR

12/6/2007 12:56:10 PM

Time to lock this one, Duke.

12/6/2007 1:17:24 PM

haha, all I have to do is slip one little line in and the who place goes berserk


I think the solution is we should be required to carry semiautomatic rifles on our backs wherever we go because thats what our forefathers obviously intended. A civilian arms race to see who can out gun their fellow citizens in the case of an emergency. We can carry them to school and church and out to the bar on Friday nights. Lets make sure we give weapons to criminals and the mentally unstable as well. Unrestricted freedom is the name of the game and who cares how many people have to die to ensure a bunch of rednecks can have the freedom to shoot a larger clip more quickly at a range a few times a year?

12/6/2007 1:37:22 PM

what's the fallacy called where you take an argument, blow it up to extreme proportions, then assume that the now magnified premise is what was being debated all along?

12/6/2007 1:41:13 PM

sarcasm?

12/6/2007 1:43:09 PM

hahah that could be it

12/6/2007 1:46:46 PM

You know . . . if you're gonna take people out with you, couldn't you do it at a Klan rally, or a meth lab, or something like that? You'd probably be a shit ton more famous for blowing away a Grand Dragon and some of his ass-cronies, because then you'd add that whole political element to the whiny emo kid element.

12/6/2007 1:48:06 PM

^^^^ Do you actually have anything productive to contribute, or do you just try and see how outrageous you can be?

[Edited on December 6, 2007 at 1:48 PM. Reason : ^]

12/6/2007 1:48:19 PM

I added that comment to mock the type of people who in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy said we should all carry handguns to school. It's as illogical when taken to its extreme as it is in moderation.

12/6/2007 2:17:40 PM

...but blaming these kinds of things on the Second Amendment is the height of profound logic, on the other hand.

How about we just agree that jackasses who exploit tragedy for political gain are the equivalent of vultures and leave it at that?

12/6/2007 2:22:30 PM

ive always hated those mall rats.

ever since i stopped being one, anyhow...





ouevre, the term i think youre looking for is argumentum ad absurdum





[Edited on December 6, 2007 at 2:29 PM. Reason : ]

12/6/2007 2:27:40 PM

We clear need robot security guards to protect us.

12/6/2007 2:28:26 PM

we should ban alcohol since some people decide to drink and end up killing people for drinking and driving

12/6/2007 2:30:40 PM

disturbance detected.

hostile mode: activated.

12/6/2007 2:30:40 PM

We don't let people of a certain age consume alcohol, we don't let people drive, we take away their licenses etc. We almost have more statutes regulating alcohol than firearms.

12/6/2007 2:37:22 PM

Quote :

"We don't let people of a certain age consume alcohol, we don't let people drive, we take away their licenses etc"

underage drinking occurs every day

people get pulled for driving without a license every day

12/6/2007 2:38:32 PM

^^ That must be why I fill out so much paperwork whenever I buy beer.

12/6/2007 2:39:10 PM

^ ever buy a keg?

12/6/2007 2:40:37 PM

^ ever buy a gun?

12/6/2007 2:41:12 PM

^ sure, several

12/6/2007 2:44:59 PM

Cool. Guns are neat.

12/6/2007 2:45:24 PM

You know what else is neat? Not getting shot to death by some jerk off at the mall.

12/6/2007 2:49:33 PM

Ooooh, or not getting hit by a 16 year old who just got drunk off of two 6 packs of Mike's Hard Lemonade that he got by playing "Hey Mister" in the Circle K parking lot.

12/6/2007 2:52:15 PM

Or hey, how about not getting mugged/raped/murdered by some thugs because the police were say, actually assigned to police real crimes rather than chasing down Johnny for getting an underage buzz? That's fun too.

12/6/2007 3:02:10 PM

scuba, you argue how we have laws the prohibit driving and alcohol which are broken, but dont mention that firearms are banned in malls too. This idiot broke the law and the ones who followed the law were defenseless. Correct?

12/6/2007 3:03:40 PM

Ohh, or not slipping in the shower. Man that really has the potential to fuck up your whole day.

12/6/2007 3:06:35 PM

Quote :

"You know what else is neat? Not getting shot to death by some jerk off at the mall."

Which could be prevented by having security personnel that were paying attention and a system of locking the entrance automatically if somebody catches somebody walking into the store carrying a very large semi-automatic rifle.

Also, parents raising their kids not to be pieces of shit and to respect human life can also be very very helpful. If they're completely batshit crazy, it's usually their responsibility to try to keep them under control somehow, whether it's medication or committing him or something, if he ends up having a violent history and they just kick him out of the house... Well... What happens to people when everybody gives up on them and they end up being complete failures?

12/6/2007 3:16:17 PM

Quote :

"Or hey, how about not getting mugged/raped/murdered by some thugs because the police were say, actually assigned to police real crimes rather than chasing down Johnny for getting an underage buzz?"

On several occasions, the Supreme Court has determined that individuals have no right to personal protection from the the police. (Most recently in 2005 with the case of Castle Rock v. Gonzalez) The job of the police is to investigate crimes and intervene with a crime in progress . . . they're not in the individual protection / prevention game.

I've gone over this before, but professor John Lott estimates that firearms are used 2.5 million times a year in self defense situations. Lets be conservative and assume that number is twice as high as it should be, you're left with 1.25 million. Let us now say that in only 10% of those attacks, did the use of a firearm actually prevent death on the part of the victim. You are still left with 125,000 people whose lives were saved by firearms ownership vs. 29,569 deaths due to firearms in 2004 (according to the Brady Campaign). A ratio of over 4:1. That includes ALL firearms deaths. If you remove suicide (on the assumption that they would simply find another way to kill themselves) you're left with 125,000 vs 12,819 a ratio of nearly 10:1. Remember, this is after I conservatively underestimated the number of events the firearms were used, and assumed only 10% of the times they were used, did they prevent death on behalf of the victim.

Is Omaha tragic? Absolutely, and my heart goes out to every single person involved. No numbers can measure up to the loss they feel, but the numbers are compelling enough to merit being posted.

12/6/2007 3:35:35 PM

Quote :

"On several occasions, the Supreme Court has determined that individuals have no right to personal protection from the the police. (Most recently in 2005 with the case of Castle Rock v. Gonzalez) The job of the police is to investigate crimes and intervene with a crime in progress . . . they're not in the individual protection / prevention game."

I meant in general. Because there's little denying that the number police assigned to say, violent crime does have an effect upon the violent crime rate. So, conversely, diverting scarce resources to police non-violent "crimes" is going to have an inverse effect.

You've only got so many police, and so many hours they can work.

12/6/2007 3:38:22 PM

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing that they have a deterrent effect or that they could be better allocated, I'm just saying that people who say "you should call the police" aren't being realisitc.

12/6/2007 3:39:38 PM

12/6/2007 3:55:22 PM

i bet he played a lot of violent video games like duck hunt

12/6/2007 4:07:01 PM

Quote :

"Let us now say that in only 10% of those attacks, did the use of a firearm actually prevent death on the part of the victim."

Almost certainly too high. Dying is harder than you might think.

12/6/2007 4:35:39 PM

this mass shooting seems like less of a big deal than Columbine + DC Sniper + VT etc

I can't figure out why tho. I'm glad the media is not blowing it up, I just want to understand why

12/6/2007 4:41:15 PM