Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Breaking News: At least nine people are dead after a gunman opened fire inside an Omaha, Nebraska, shopping mall, police say.


(CNN) -- A gunman killed eight people and wounded five others Wednesday at the popular Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, before apparently turning the gun on himself, police said.

The Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, is locked down after the shooting.

"We do not believe that we have any other shooter," said Sgt. Teresa Negron.

The shooting took place at the Von Maur store inside the shopping complex, which was locked down, the Nebraska State Patrol said.

Shoppers and employees walked out of the building with their hands up. Some described hiding in clothes racks and dressing rooms after hearing the shots. Video Watch witnesses describe the ordeal ?

"I was standing around getting ready to go back to work and all of a sudden I heard this bang, bang, bang -- it sounded like someone shooting fireworks," a witness told CNN affiliate KETV. "I ran to get away from whatever was happening."

Shoppers described scenes of horror as they fled the mall.

"We heard about 35, 40 shots, and on our way our we did see someone down by the escalator, bleeding," Jennifer Cramer told KETV.

Another witness said people started running frantically from the Von Maur area saying there was a shooting.

"I heard three loud pops," said mall employee Charissa Tatoon. "Immediately after that, there was a series of maybe 20 to 25 more shots up on the third floor." She said she saw a man shot on the second floor and "at least four or five" people brought out on gurneys.

Another woman who works at the mall said she saw a woman shot, and added that the shots seemed to be coming from inside the Von Maur store, on an upper level.

People were gathering outside the mall, checking on loved ones believed to be inside.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center said it had received one patient, a man shot in the upper arm. He was listed in critical condition and was taken into the operating room, said hospital spokeswoman Andrea McMaster.

The hospital was awaiting the arrival of two more people, but was unaware of their conditions, McMaster said

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/05/mall.shooting/index.html

That makes me never want to go to a mall...

Some shooters seem to want to head for malls.

We had a shooter in IL. mall a few months back.

For every person shot that opposed the 2nd amendment my thoughts are with them and their families

For every person shot who was pro the second amendment - you reap what you sow

Then he kills himself, fuckin pussy... Shoulda done that first thing.... FUCK  :rant:


Isint CDE from Nebraska   :-\

These guys are complete cowards.

Hmm, now I've heard the old saying, "Guns don't kill people, people do." 

But wow, ya know what?  Guns make it a hell of a lot easier to kill people...lots of people...lots of people fast.  Yeah, a person could snap and decide to attack a lot of folks with a big knife or explosive concoction, but that really does take a bit more thought huh? 

9 innocent people dead.   :(   

Yea, I hate that saying. It always gets thrown out when we have these shootings.

I wonder if a would be killer yielding a machete would slice up holiday shoppers and then off himself after a series of hacks to their femoral artery?

Ya know? Or would he maybe only get one whack in before being subdued?

"Machetes" don't kill people, people do." Sounds absurd then doesn't it?

yeah its fucked up man, i first saw it on the TV in detension. If stupid mother fuckers want to kill them selves then only put ONE round in the chamber and off yourself >:(

its all over the radio and news stations and everything.

Although this is a sad event and something that really didn't need to happen does anyone else think that this isn't a tradegy? i mean is it just me or should there be a word between Normal and Tradegy? 9\11 was a Tradegy this, to me, is just fucked up? am i the only one that feels this way?

:peace:

The killer has been identified as Robert A. Hawkins, age 19 or 20, who left a suicide note stating, "I'm going out in style" and "I'm going to be famous."


This is very sad.

Who would want to be famous for being a douche bag coward, who snuffed out innocent people during the holiday season? Besides at this point, these type of shootings are so common, we're beginning to become desensitized to them.

I don't think the amount of people killed should define a tragedy.  When things like this happen it always is one because maybe there were people in this maniac's life that saw that something was wrong and could have taken some steps to prevent something like this from happening.

This is very sad, indeed.

It seems he was quite troubled:
http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/12188711.html
Robert Hawkins had a history of depression. He broke up with his longtime girlfriend about two weeks ago and had just been fired from his job at a fast-food restaurant when he walked into Westroads Mall on Wednesday afternoon. The shooting began shortly before 2 o'clock

Oh god.  ::)

I'm glad you found a way to plug your rhetoric into this thread, congrats.  : ok:

Give him a break, you know he can't help it. He's narissictic.

I was just watching a video on yahoo news where the kid's landlord lady (who was somewhat close to him as she allowed him to stay at her building once his family kicked him out) talked to him hours before the shooting and he was acting strange and then she even found the suicide note before it happened.? So instead of calling authorities in reference to the kid writing "Now I'll be famous"....she just thought that he was suicidal and that was that.? Welcome to 2007 you dumb bitch, call the authorities when something like that is out there.? Today, a cry for help is a lot more dangerous than it was 20 years ago.?

If someone appears to be suicidal, I know in Pennsylvania, you can call the cops and basically they will obtain that person and take them to a medical facility psychiatric wing for a few days.?

only in america.

we get shootings in the UK but ive not known anyone do it because they are depressed and wanna "go out in style" LOL.

must be american media.

Is that really the view? That there's a difference between "rest of the civilized world" shootings, and "American" shootings? That's sick.

I always though going out in style would be --I don't know-- finding another terminally ill [hot] chick, jump out of an airplane with no parachute while having sex, and then have it released as a porn.

If I had to go out like a champ....I'd wreck an exotic sports car, while in excess of one hundred MPH, coked out of my mind, with a 22 yr old nymphomaniac under the steering wheel.

Not that I've thought about it or anything...

If this happend at the mall of america, I wonder how many gangbangers out here would've shot back at 'em.

I've seen many fights at the MOA - I saw a kid kill another with an icepick. It used to be pretty brutal out here.

Just suicide when you get too old and weak...

Great, cause you know, 22 yr old nymphomanias grow on trees.  :no:

well this shit started in american, and is most pro dominant in america.

shootings like this have only just started to be copied in some areas in europe, but thats usually school shootings.

guns in american culture are alot less shocking then they are in english culture, and perhaps the rest of the world (i dont know though as they arnt so predominantly in the media)

This situation really scares me because I work at the mall in my hometown, and it's one of those "Isolated incidents" -as in it could happen anywhere. So my heart goes out to the families of those innocent people who died.



~STR

It can happen anywhere man.

Last time I was out in SLC Utah, it happened at the local mall (small mall named Trolley Square.) Some loser came in and started shooting.

I don't believe that. Shootings are everywhere, whether it be in the UK, asia, OR america...

I don't think it started in one place...

The epidemic of crazy fuckers entering schools, or other public arenas and murdering innocent students, or everyday people, really has it's roots in America. There is no denying that.

Um, no sorry. We don't have to worry about some crazy fucker opening fire while we're shopping or whether somebody will shoot our kids in school. It just doesn't happen. So you CAN say that it's only in the US.

something thats starting to piss a lot of people off in the area is that the news is reporting this all the time and non-stop. Everytime something new comes in they report it and are making the asshole that what shot up the places' dreams come true. One of his notes said he wanted to go out in style and be remembered. Well he is, and thats what they are doing.

kinda eerie and fucked up :-\..........

They should have metal detectors and armed guards at the entrances.  Sad but true fact of life nowadays.  :-\

what a bunch of bullshit.   Like guns are the only way to kill people.  ::)   If it wasn't a gun, it would have been something else.  and even if it wasn't our constitutional right to bear arms, you really think that would stop someone from getting a gun?

No, it couldn't have been something else. There's no way a guy can run around stabbing 8 or 9 people. Somebody would have taken him down before that. Most of these kids are not terrorists or anything, so they wouldn't have access to bombs or have the knowledge to make bombs. So what else is left? Kungfu people to death? I don't think so...

You got to understand, most of these guys are wimps. It's easy to shoot somebody from a distance, but it takes whole different level of gumption to get up close to someone and stab them.


It's because it's your "constitutional right" that guns are so easy to get. In a country where guns are allowed only for law enforcement, there's no way kids can get guns. It's not like you can go to a store and buy one. Which you can in the US.

Establishing An Authoritarian State


Step 1) Apply this logic:

I agree that the laws are fucked up, but the elimination of firearms is not the answer. If it had not been for private ownership of firearms, this country would have never gained it's independence. All the faults included, I'm not willing to give up any of my freedoms ... especially in this day and age.

The kid that did this, broke into a house and stole the weapon that he used to commit the crime.

Well, a firearm or a chainsaw. :P

 Of course it's a more complex issue then easy, fast and effective methods getting a gun.
But less accessibillity would without a doubt reduce the amount of shootings like this and raise the secuity in public.

It doesn't fix the problem or change the sickening American culture, but it helps. Warm thougths to the victims.

Um, yes a long time ago. How is that relevant now?


You missed my point. If there aren't any guns anywhere, there wouldn't be one available to steal.


Maybe that's the problem. Everybody wants the shootings to stop, but can't give up their guns.

I know banning guns right away is not the solution for a country that loves it's firearms, but maybe a stepwise plan should be implemented to achieve it. Stricter laws in procuring firearms won't help in cases where, say, a kid steals his dad's gun and goes off to school.

Oh well, your laws, your lives...

Of course it happens in places other than US, - my mind immediately goes to Dunblane, Scotland where a guy walked into a primary school and shot dead 16 children and a teacher in 1996.? The kids were 5/6 year olds.? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre? ?Following that, a month later a guy gunned down 35 random people in Tasmania, apparently the Dunblane massacre "triggered" him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Bryant

You cant confine that kind of craziness to one country.? Sadly these monsters exist everywhere and tragically, there are more examples worldwide.? Taking out innocent people because of a desire to be famous or "known", when there is also the ultimate intention of suicide is so fkn selfish and wrong and dark.

There are gun problems in the UK for example as well and our laws dont seem to deter kids from buying guns and using them, regardless of the fact that guns are illegal here.? Seems to be a trend this year particularly for teenage boys shooting each other due to lack of respect (in London, Manchester, Liverpool to name a few).? Banning guns hasnt made a difference here...

I agree that it happens elsewhere, but to say banning guns hasn't made a difference.....look at the numbers from 1998 when the last study was conducted.
In the US there was 11,789 reported firearm homicides....not including accidental shootings, etc.....just homicide only.
In England and Wales, there was only 54.

"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Franklin 1759

It is just as relevant today as it was 248 years ago. The current administration of the US is out of control. "The rule of law" means absolutely nothing anymore. The violations of Federal Law are numerous, continuous, and ongoing. Congress has abrogated it's authority to keep the Executive Branch in check, while the Supreme Court sits around with their collective thumb's up their ass'.

The Second Amendment is one of the freedoms that Americans have to protect themselves from tyranny. So, FUCK NO! I won't give it up.


See above ... I can tolerate the a few casulties if that is what it takes to maintain my freedom. Shootings are horrible, but the consequences are a lot worse.

I ask, how many oppressed have died at the hands of tyrants? Would an armed populace have made a difference in N. Korea?

 that study was done in 1998? I do see your point - in that america has a much larger-scale issue with guns and how readily available they are. and I would def expect the homicide figures to be a lot higher there. Yet  I was just trying to show that instances like this mall shooting do happen in countries where guns are not as easily available.  And certainly this year (almost a decade on since that last study was conducted), it seems as though there has been a definate rise in the numbers of UK teenagers who can, will and do get guns and dont hold back from using them.  That is a change in London since I've lived here (11 years). and a sad, worrying one at that.

You think the only alternative to guns are knives? There's a plethora of information on the internet. Duffle bag + propane tank + simple blasting cap = a lot more harm then any gun would do.

Gun are not the issue here. Get it? It's the people who commit the crimes.

Another shooting in a missionary training center in Colorado today:

ARVADA, Colo. - A gunman walked into a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early Sunday and opened fire, killing two of the center's staff members and wounding two others. No arrests had been made by late morning.

The shooting happened at about 12:30 a.m. at the Youth With a Mission center, police spokeswoman Susan Medina said. About 45 people were evacuated from the dormitory in this Denver suburb.

A man and a woman in their mid-20s died, and two men ages 22 and 23 were wounded, Medina said. One of the injured men was in critical condition, said Paul Filidis, a Colorado Springs-based spokesman with Youth With a Mission.

All four of the victims were staff members, Filidis said.

Witnesses told police that the gunman was a 20-year-old white male, wearing a dark jacket and skull cap. He may have glasses or a beard.

"There's no blueprint for this, we're just going to be honest and pray for one another, cry with one another," center director Peter Warren told KUSA-TV. "Who knows what was going on in this young man's life."

Police with several dogs searched the area through the night, and residents of nearby homes were notified by reverse 911 to be on the lookout. Medina said residents were asked to look out their windows to see if the snow had been disturbed during the night. About 4 inches of snow had fallen in the area in the past day.

Mimi Martin, who lives near the center, said she received the warning call at about 9 a.m. warning neighbors to keep their doors and windows locked.

"Why would anybody want to hurt those kids?" Martin said. "I just pray for their families."

The dormitory is on the campus of the Faith Bible Chapel. People bundled up against freezing cold arrived for Sunday services at the sanctuary, about 300 yards from the dormitory.

Darv Smith, director of a Youth With a Mission center in Boulder, said people ranging from their late teens to their 70s undergo a 12-week discipleship course that prepares them to be missionaries.

He said the center trains about 300 people a year.

Youth With a Mission was started in 1960 and now has 1,100 locations with 16,000 full-time staff, Smith said. The Arvada center was founded in 1984.

he was probably a failed missionary or something.

So he decided to take his revenge.

but seriously, wtf is it with america and mad gunman.

are you for real or are you joking? can't tell ....

Or they could just make a bomb and kill a lot more people.    Its the fucking people who are to blame, not the guns.   And I'm not a huge gun person either.  I don't really care for guns.

drugs are illegal but did that stop me from getting them as a kid?

And wow.....another shooting in Colorado today:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A gunman opened fire in the parking lot of a Colorado Springs church on Sunday, striking four people, the church's pastor said.

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The conditions of the people shot outside the New Life Church were not known, El Paso County Sheriff's Lt. Lari Sevene said.

Lance Coles, a pastor at New Life Church, told The Associated Press he received a report that a man was shooting at people in the church parking lot and that the gunman may have entered the church.

It was not immediately known whether the shootings were related to an earlier shooting about 70 miles away in the Denver suburb of Arvada. There, two people died and two were wounded early Sunday when a gunman opened fire in a dormitory at a missionary training center on the campus of Faith Bible Chapel.

New Life was founded by the Rev. Ted Haggard, who was fired last year after a former male prostitute alleged he had a three-year cash-for-sex relationship with him.

Haggard, then the president of the National Association of Evangelicals, admitted committing undisclosed "sexual immorality."

The church is one of Colorado's largest with about 10,000 members

These things always happen in clusters.

This one actually might be related to the one this morning.  Both church/missionary shootings....a few miles apart.  Good possibility.

blah blah blah kid was an outcast blah blah blah ,teachers should have noticed, blah blah blah his girfriend broke up with him, blah blah blah we should have more gun control, blah blah blah how could this happen in such a quiet town, blah blah blah,,,,,I havent this story at all but im guessing that covers it...

it isn't safe anywhere :(

For Chrissake!!!!