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The Westroads Mall shooting was a murder-suicide
that occurred on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at the Von Maur department
store in the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Nineteen-year-old
Robert A. Hawkins killed nine people (including himself) and wounded
four, two of them critically. It was the deadliest shooting spree in
Nebraska since the rampage of Charles Starkweather in 1958.
Prior to the shooting
An hour before the rampage, Hawkins' mother gave the
Sarpy County Sheriff's Department his suicide note which stated, "I just
want to take a few peices [sic] of shit with me... just think tho
[sic], I'm gonna be fuckin [sic] famous."
Hawkins entered the south entrance of the Von Maur
department store about 1:36 p.m. CST (19:36 UTC). After walking a short
distance into the store, he paused for a second, then turned around and
left. Returning six minutes later through the same entrance, he
proceeded directly to the elevator at his immediate right, this time
with a commercial copy of the AKM 7.62x39mm semi-automatic rifle stolen
from his stepfather's house, along with two 30-round magazines,
concealed in a sweatshirt. He took the elevator to the top floor.
The shooting
At approximately 1:43 p.m. CST (19:43 UTC), Robert
Hawkins stepped out of the elevator on the third floor and opened fire.
He killed eight people and wounded four others over the course of six
minutes, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head
near the customer service desk. He fired more than 30 rounds, striking
12 people. Six died on the spot, one died before reaching the hospital,
and another died 45 minutes after reaching the ER of another hospital.
Omaha Police arrived at Westroads Mall about six
minutes after receiving the first 911 call. During the entire 70 seconds
of that first call, all the dispatcher heard was gunshots. Audio tapes
and transcripts of the 911 calls, along with images captured by mall
security surveillance cameras, were released by the police on December
7, 2007.
An autopsy of Hawkins showed that he had 200
nanograms per milliliter of Valium in his system, which is the low end
of its therapeutic-use range (100-1500 ng/mL). No trace of any other
drug was found in his system.
Mall shooting victims
1. Gary Scharf, age 48, customer.
2. John McDonald, age 65,
customer.
3. Angie Schuster, age 36,
employee.
4. Maggie Webb, age 24, employee.
5. Janet Jorgensen, age 66,
employee.
6. Diane Trent, age 53, employee.
7. Gary Joy, age 56, employee.
8. Beverly Flynn, age 47,
employee
The injured
Four of the victims shot by Hawkins survived. Two
were critically injured were store employees. Fred Wilson, 61, was a
manager for the customer service department. He was sent to the
University of Nebraska Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the upper
chest. By the time he reached the ER, he had lost three-quarters of his
blood and had no pulse. Wilson was upgraded to stable by the following
weekend, and soon after was making some attempts to communicate.
The other critically wounded victim was customer
service employee Micheale "Mickey" Oldham, 65, who was sent to Creighton
University Medical Center. She sustained heavy injuries to the abdomen
and back, and, of the surviving victims, she suffered the worst
injuries. On April 19, 2010, Ms. Oldham was fired by Von Maur for not
being able to meet the requirements of her job due to her injuries
sustained in the shooting. To this day she is unable to stand for long
periods of time and was only able to work two four hour shifts per week.
Another surviving victim was customer Jeff Schaffart,
34, who was treated and released at UNMC for a gunshot wound to the left
arm and the pinky finger of his left hand. The Omaha Police Department
announced on December 22, 2007, that Mandy Hyda, 34, received a bruise
when a bullet fragment struck her left leg. She was neither transported
nor treated for the injury. It was initially reported that there were
five people injured (not including Hyda), but two of those at the scene
who were sent to local hospitals were sent for reasons other than being
shot by Hawkins.
The shooter
The perpetrator of the shootings was Robert A.
Hawkins, 19 (May 17, 1988 – December 5, 2007). He was born in the Royal
Air Force Lakenheath of Suffolk, England, to American parents Ronald
Hawkins and Maribel "Molly" Rodriguez.
He was estranged from his parents and lived with two
friends and their mother in a ranch-style house in the Quail Creek
Neighborhood of Bellevue, a suburb 10 miles (16 km) south of Omaha. He
was attending therapy sessions, taking medication and being hospitalized
for depression by the time he was 6 years old.
Throughout most of his life, he and his family were
plagued by his psychiatric problems. The day after he turned 14, he was
sent to a mental health treatment center for threatening to kill his
stepmother Candace Hawkins with an axe. Four months later, he became a
ward of the State of Nebraska, which lasted nearly four years. He had
undergone two psychiatric hospitalizations, and was diagnosed with
attention deficit disorder, an unspecified mood disorder, oppositional
defiant disorder, and parent-child relationship problems. His extensive
treatments cost the state USD$265,000.
He attended Papillion-La Vista High School and later
dropped out during his senior year in March 2006, but received a GED.
Debora Maruca-Kovac, the owner of the house in which Hawkins lived,
described him as "troubled". She also stated that he was depressed over
being fired from his job at McDonald's, reportedly for stealing USD$17,
and over separating from his girlfriend two weeks prior to the incident.
Hawkins was ticketed on November 24, 2007, for
suspicion of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and two alcohol
charges, one of which was underage possession of alcohol. He was due in
court for an arraignment on December 19, 2007. According to local news
sources, he threatened to kill a local teenager, because he thought she
had stolen his CD player. He was also convicted as a juvenile of a
felony drug conviction while in foster care in Omaha.
The Smoking Gun released a copy of Hawkins' three-page
suicide note which consisted of a note to his family, one to his friends,
and his last will and testament, below which he signed his name and
included his Social Security number. Initial news reports indicated that
Hawkins wrote in his suicide note, "I'm going out in style;" however,
the phrase does not appear on the publicly released document.
The day after the shooting, the Hawkins family
released a statement expressing their condolences for the victims. On
December 13, 2007, Hawkins' mother issued a formal apology for Hawkins'
actions in an interview on Good Morning America.
Wikipedia.org
Police: Nine killed in shooting at Omaha mall, including
gunman
CNN.com
December 6, 2007
A 19-year-old gunman who killed eight
people and then himself Wednesday at
the Westroads Mall in Omaha,
Nebraska, left a suicide note,
police said.
Five other people were injured, and
two of them were in critical
condition, hospital officials said.
Chief Thomas Warren of the Omaha
Police Department called the
shooting "premeditated," but said it
"appears to be very random and
without provocation."
Surveillance cameras may have
captured the shooting, Warren said.
"We'll be here throughout the night;
it's a very extensive crime scene,"
he said.
Police identified the gunman as
Robert A. Hawkins of Nebraska.
They have recovered an SKS assault
rifle and the suspect's vehicle.
Debora Maruca Kovac, Hawkins'
landlord who found the suicide note,
said he wrote he was sorry for
everything and did not want to be a
burden to anyone any longer.
Hawkins said in the note he loved
his friends and family, but "he was
a piece of s--- all his life, and
now he'll be famous," she told CNN.
She said Hawkins was a friend of her
sons and "reminded me of a lost
puppy that nobody wanted."
He came to live with her about a
year and a half ago, telling her he
could not stay with his own family
because of "some issues with his
stepmother and him."
She described Hawkins as well-behaved,
although "he had a lot of emotional
problems, obviously."
The shootings began about 1:42 p.m.
Seven people were found dead at the
scene by officers arriving six
minutes later; two others, a male
and a female, died after being
transported to Creighton University
Medical Center, said Fire Chief
Robert Dahlquist.
A Creighton spokeswoman said a
second female was undergoing surgery
and was in critical condition
Wednesday afternoon.
Three other people were taken to the
University of Nebraska Medical
Center. One, a 61-year-old man who
sustained a chest wound after being
shot in the armpit, underwent
surgery and remained in critical
condition in the intensive care unit
Wednesday night, said hospital
spokeswoman Maggie O'Brien.
The other two -- a 34-year-old man
who was shot in the arm, and a 55-year-old
man who fell and struck a clothing
rack as he was trying to escape --
were treated and released, she said.
Maruca Kovac told CNN that Hawkins
left home Wednesday about 11 a.m.,
and called the house about two hours
later, sounding upset.
"He just said he wanted to thank me
for everything I'd done for him ...
and he was sorry," Maruca Kovac said.
He told her he had gotten fired from
his job, she said.
"I said, 'Come home and we'll talk
about it,' " she said. "He said, 'It's
too late.' He said he'd left a note
explaining everything."
Witness Jennifer Kramer told CNN she
heard at least 25 shots.
"He just kept firing," she said. She
said she called 911 on her cell
phone, whispering into it out of
fear of being heard. A dispatcher
told her other calls had been
received and help was on the way,
but she said it seemed to take "a
long time" for them to arrive.
"It was just so loud, and then it
was silence," she said. "I was
scared to death he'd be walking
around looking for someone else."
She said as she was being escorted
out by police, she saw a man lying
injured by the escalator where she
had been previously.
"All of us were slightly confused
because we didn't know what it was,"
said mall employee Charissa Tatoon
about the first burst of gunfire.
"Immediately after that, there was a
series of maybe 20 to 25 more shots
up on the third floor.
"I was in the women's shoe
department and there was a gentleman
coming down the escalator that was
very near the shoe department, and
he was heard saying that he was
calling 911, and immediately after
that, the shooter shot down from the
third floor and shot him on the
second floor."
Warren, the police chief, said the
victims included five females and
three males, not including Hawkins.
"We believe there was one shooter,
and one shooter only," he said.
Maruca Kovac said she was unaware
Hawkins had any guns, although she
said he knew a lot about them, as
did his stepfather. "When he first
came to live with us, he was in the
fetal position and chewed his
fingernails all the time," she said.
But she said she thought he was
improving, as he had gotten a job, a
haircut and a girlfriend. However,
she said Hawkins and his girlfriend
had broken up in the last couple of
weeks, and he had taken it hard.
She said late Wednesday that
authorities were searching her house
for evidence.
"My kids are devastated," she said.
"We're all in shock."
Hawkins' former school district
released a photo of a youth with
glasses and long black hair. A
spokeswoman said he attended
Papillon-La Vista High School until
he withdrew in March 2006.
Witnesses described chaos and
frantic shoppers running away from
the Von Maur store, where the
shooting began just before 2 p.m.
"You're in such shock, it's hard to
think. I was hoping God would spare
us," said a woman who was clutching
a rosary in her trembling hand after
the shootings. "We had to put up our
hands and follow the police to the
outside."
Others described scenes of horror as they fled the
mall.
Some shoppers and mall employees hid
in clothes racks, dressing rooms and
bathrooms after hearing the shots.
Most of the victims were shot inside
the Von Maur store, Sgt. Teresa
Negron said.
President Bush had visited Omaha
Wednesday before the shooting.
"The president is deeply saddened by
the shootings in Omaha, Nebraska,
earlier today," White House press
secretary Dana Perino said.
"His thoughts and prayers are with
the victims and their families this
evening. 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 as
they deal with this terrible tragedy."
As news of the shooting spread,
people gathered outside the mall,
checking on loved ones who were
inside.
The shopping center will be closed
until at least Thursday, police said.
The shooting was at least the fourth
at a mall or shopping center so far
this year, following incidents in
Salt Lake City, Utah; Kansas City,
Missouri; and Douglasville, Georgia.
I-Reporter
recalls horror of Nebraska mall shootings
CNN.com
December 6, 2007
Though tears, Kristy Wright said
she's not doing well Thursday
morning, the day after a shooter
took the lives of nine people,
including himself, at an Omaha,
Nebraska, mall.
"We were steps away from walking in
there," Omaha-area resident Wright
says of the Von Maur department
store at the Westroads Mall where
Robert A. Hawkins, 19, of Bellevue,
Nebraska, opened fire.
"I can't imagine what it must have
been like for the people who were in
there."
Wright and a friend went out
shopping together, and were headed
to Von Maur, but the two stopped
short because Wright's friend had to
use the restroom. "Two minutes
passed, or we would have been in
there," Wright says.
Hawkins shot some of his victims in
the children's department. "I always
go straight to that department,"
Wright said, "because I have a 9-year-old."
Instead, she and her friend heard
shots as they were standing inside
the mall, just outside the doors to
Von Maur. Wright described a sound
unlike any other she had heard
before despite growing up near
hunting grounds in Minnesota.
"The gunshots were so consistent,"
Wright said, her voice tinged with
horror.
"I heard what seemed like the first
four or five, then there was a
bigger round. What we didn't realize,
what we found out later that night,
was that we had heard someone being
shot."
A hide-out in
nearby store
Wright said she realized what was
happening and yelled, "There's a
shooter." She tried to turn and run,
but her legs wouldn't move fast
enough, she said. She said her
friend was frozen in fear. Wright
guided them both to a nearby jewelry
store, she recalled.
Wright told the jewelry store
employees what she had heard and
asked if they would take the two of
them in, she said. A manager showed
Wright, her friend and four
employees to a room in the back of
the store.
Wright said she sat in the small
room wondering if a shooter would
walk in the door any minute.
"Now I know what it felt like at
Virginia Tech," she said. "Just
waiting for your turn. Waiting for
the door to fly open and for him to
come in there, and it's your turn."
The ride home
alone
The shooter didn't barge in, but
the police arrived. They gathered
everyone in the mall together to
walk them outside. Wright said she
didn't want to leave her small,
enclosed hide-out.
In the meantime, Wright's 16-year-old
daughter was at home, watching
reports of the shootings on TV. She
knew that her mother had gone out
shopping. Terrified, she called her
mother, who reassured her that she
was safe. Wright's family also
called from Minnesota. She spoke to
her husband at work before her cell
phone battery died.
"Everybody was borrowing phones,
people were giving phones to each
other. Teenagers that you wouldn't
expect to be so compassionate at
that age -- everyone was offering
rides to people who were parked at a
distance from JC Penney," where
police escorted people out of the
mall.
Once outside, Wright had to make the
15-minute drive home to her family
alone. "As soon as I got past the
reporters and on to the road, I
started shaking. It was a long 15
minutes. I just called my mother and
talked to her the whole way home,"
she recalled. "I had to talk to
someone."
Questions left
unanswered
Wright said that she didn't sleep
much Wednesday night and neither did
the friend who had accompanied her.
"I called her this morning," Wright
said. "She said she kept waking up,
trying to catch her breath
throughout the night."
Wright said her friend "is not the
kind of person who shows emotion,
but you can hear it in her voice,
and you can see it on her face."
Wright said she plans to go to the
University of Nebraska at Omaha on
Thursday for counseling. Wright has
to drive past the mall to get to the
school, a task she said she is
dreading.
Mulling over the events of the day,
Wright said there are many questions
left unanswered.
"There was a woman in front of me in
the checkout line at another store
in the mall. She turned to her
companion and said, 'Let's go to Von
Maur now.' "
This exchange was just before Wright
and her friend stopped off at the
restrooms. "I wonder what happened
to her," Wright said.
Omaha Gunman's Note: "Now I'll Be
Famous"
8 Killed, 5 Hurt In Mall Slaying; 19-Year-Old Shooter
Kills Self, Left Suicide Letter
Dec. 6, 2007
(CBS/AP) 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.
He appeared to fire without apparent motive or
specific targets, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.
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."
The victims' names were given at a press conference
Thursday by Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren. The victims are aged 24 to
66, employees as well as customers, 5 females and four males deceased,
including the suspect, Robert Hawkins.
The deceased include Gary Scharf, 48, of Lincoln, Neb,
a customer, John McDonald, 65, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, a customer,
Angie Schuster, 36, an employee, Maggie Webb, 24, an employee, Janet
Jorgenen, 66, an employee, Diane Trent, 53, an employee, Gary Joy, 56,
an employee and Becky Flynn, 47, an employee.
Omaha mayor Mike Fahey offered his
condolences to the families of the victims.
"There are no words to adequately express our
feelings this morning," Fahey said.
"I saw employees taking a bunch of people into the
dressing room, but I didn't want to go," shopper Jennifer Kramer told
CBS' The Early Show. "I didn't know if this guy was going to
come looking for people in dressing rooms, so we hid in a pants rack
towards the back of the men's department."
Robert A. Hawkins, 19, had a criminal record and had
been kicked out of his parents' house. Police have not said anything
about the motive, but Hawkins had suffered a string of setbacks over the
past year.
A family friend said he recently broke up with a
girlfriend and got fired, and a source told CBS News affiliate KMTV-TV
he tried, but failed, to get into the Army.
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.
"He came to us like a little lost puppy. He was
always very sensitive and caring, always wanting to know how everybody
was doing," Maruca-Kovac told The Early Show. "He just
needed a chance to get on his feet."
"We never saw violence in him," she said.
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.
Maruca-Kovac went to her job as a nurse at the
Nebraska Medical Center, where victims of the shooting soon began to
arrive.
"I was fearful that he was going to try to commit
suicide," she told The Early Show. "But I had no idea that
he would involve so many other families."
"I feel so sorry for him, that he was so lost and
alone that he had to resort to this."
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.
Police Chief Warren said Hawkins "appeared to be
concealing something balled up in hooded sweat shirt" on a surveillance
video.
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."
A Von Maur store executive told KMTV it has a
policy in place for such emergencies and employees, within the past year,
had gone through training on how to handle similar situations.
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.
Governor Dave Heineman has issued an order for all
U.S. and state flags to be flown at half-staff effectivelt immediately
in honor of those killed.
The flags will remain at half-staff until Sunday.
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.
This 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.
Portraits Of Victims Emerge
Victims Ages 24-66 Were Employees, Customers
December 7, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. -- A woman who had just
celebrated her golden anniversary, a woman adored by her nieces and
nephew and a man who loved river rafting are among the dead after a
gunman opened fire at an Omaha mall on Wednesday, killing himself and
eight others.
Names of the victims were revealed by Police Chief Thomas Warren on
Thursday. They are: Gary Scharf, 48, a customer and resident of Lincoln;
John McDonald, 65, a customer and resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa;
Angella Schuster, 36, an employee; Maggie Webb, 24, an employee; Janet
Jorgenson, 67, an employee; Dianne Trent, 53, an employee; Gary Joy, 56,
an employee; and Beverly Flynn, 47, an employee.
Janet Jorgenson
Jorgensen's sister-in-law said the victim had three children and
eight grandchildren. She and her husband had just celebrated 50 years of
marriage. Her family said she loved working at Von Maur in the crystal
department. She also did a lot of charity work. Her daughter-in-law said
Jorgenson was friendly and outgoing, popular at work and everywhere else.
A family friend, three grandchildren and a son-in-law all shared
memories of Jorgensen on Friday morning. They said she worked at Von
Maur since it opened in Omaha, and that she had an impact on everyone
she knew.
Grandchildren Ryan and Andi Husk, of Fort Calhoun, said they still
expect their grandmother to call and check in -- they have yet to
accepted that she is gone.
"Grandma and grandpa were the definition of true love," Ryan Husk
said. "They were the epitome of true love."
Andi Husk said she hopes her upcoming marriage will follow her
grandparents' example. She said Jorgensen was acting as her wedding
planner, and she plans a tribute to her to be part of the wedding.
She said the family plans to celebrate a happy Christmas, too.
"We know that Grandma is really here with us, and she would be upset
with us if we didn't go on just make it the best Christmas," Andi Husk
said.
"Probably my youngest childhood memory is actually my grandmother
rocking me in a wooden chair … and singing, 'You are my Sunshine,'" Ryan
Husk said. "I was probably 3, or so."
Jorgensen's visitation is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Sunday at Heafey,
Heafey, Hoffman Funeral Home. The Jorgensen family plans a memorial
service later that night at St. James Catholic Church at 7:30 p.m.
The funeral is planned for 10 a.m. Monday at St. James.
Maggie Webb
Webb, the youngest of the victims, was just two weeks from her 25th
birthday. She was a native of Port Byron, Ill. A friend said Webb had
just moved to Omaha in November to work as a new "up-and-coming" manager
at Von Maur. She was a cat lover. The Illinois State University
Pantagraph reports that Webb graduated from ISU with a degree in
business administration in 2005. She is the daughter of Dave and Vicki
Webb of Port Byron.
In Moline, Ill, where Webb worked at another Von Maur, flags are
flying at half-staff. Friends said the she worked here in the shoe
department while in high school, transferred to Chicago and then to
Omaha.
Ryan Mathias said he has been friends with Webb since high school.
"I'm angry," Mathias said. "I'm angry at that kid. I don't
understand why he took something so beautiful from this world."
Webb was a Moline High School honors student who was involved in
student government and peer counseling. Educators there said they are
stunned by news about one of their own.
"Teachers who talk about Maggie, they say things like, exceptional,
caring, genuine," said Principal Bill Burrus.
Gary Scharf
Scharf was a customer on the third-floor of Von Maur when he was
caught in a barrage of gunfire. Gary Scharf's family said her was buying
some clothes before flying out on a business trip. His sister said he
was a national sales manager for a life sciences company. Scharf grew up
on a farm in Curtis, Neb. The family said they always gathered at the
farm in Curtis to celebrate holidays, and had just done so this
Thanksgiving. They said he was an excellent father to his son Steve,
loving son, and a great family man. They said he had a "total love for
animals and for the Earth."
On Friday, Doris Scharf shared some of her favorite memories of her
son.
"He took his teddy bear outside, and I said, 'Where you going?' And
he said, 'I'm going to show him to God,'" Doris Scharf said.
The victim's son, Steve, said his father was his best friend.
Nobody is ever going to be a perfect father, but if my dad wasn't
the perfect father, he was my best friend," Steve Scharf said.
Steve Scharf said he found out about his father's death on Wednesday
night.
"The last time we spoke on the phone, I was at work, and he said, 'I
love you. You're at work and you think twice about saying it, and you
know? I'm glad I did. 'I love you,' and that was important," Steve
Scharf said. "Geez, we talk to each other every day. I know we love each
other, and I thought about saying, 'We know, we don't really need to say
it.' Now, I'm glad I never said that. 1 wouldn't take back one I love
you. What I wouldn't give to talk to him once more."
Gary Joy
Joy's mother, Inez, said her son visited often at the retirement
community where she and her sister live. She said her son was pursuing a
degree in literature at Bellevue University. She said her son loved to
write poetry and stories.
She said he donated his organs. She called that typical of the way
he always helped others.
"He was helping somebody," said Inez Joy, 91. "That's what he wanted
to do."
Joy said she will always remember the attention he paid to her. She
said he always came when she needed help, and would often visit to have
dinner with her.
Angella Schuster
Schuster's family said in a statement that she was born in Dubuque,
Iowa, and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1994 with a
degree in education. She worked as the manager of the girls department
of Von Maur on the third floor. She had worked at Von Maur for about 10
years.
"Angie was a very sweet and tender person and was loved by everyone
that knew her," the statement said. "Angie was a devoted sister and aunt.
She was very close to both of her sisters who live in Nebraska. She was
a wonderful aunt to her two nieces and her nephew. She really loved
children and talked about her nieces and nephew all the time. She was in
love with her boyfriend and very happy about the life they were planning
together. Angie always kept in touch with all the friends she made
throughout her life and had many devoted friends around the country that
she knew from college and her childhood."
Schuster's older sister, Donna Kenkel, said they last saw each other
Sunday at a child's birthday party at the Omaha zoo. Her brother-in-law,
Jeff Kenkel, said she and her boyfriend of about 18 months were planning
on getting engaged and eventually getting married.
John McDonald
P.J. McDonald is a chaplain for the Clive Fire and Police
Departments. He told KETV sister station KCCI on Thursday morning that
his brother was at the mall Christmas shopping with his wife when he was
shot.
"People enjoying their Christmas shopping on a pleasant afternoon,
and then to have nine lives lost -- one of them my brother. It's a
terrible thing," McDonald said. "My brother was a gentle soul. If there
was one thing that would be a characteristic of his, it was the fact
that he did not like violence."
McDonald said he hopes that people watching this story from around
the world will take a moment to look at their own lives.
"I again invite people observing this to take some time and think
about where we are with some of our violent acts that we no longer need
to entertain, and just softening of the heart," the chaplain said.
Despite his training, McDonald said he isn't functioning well right now.
"I can be a chaplain for other people, but on my own behalf, I am
useless. I am devastated by this horrible turn of events," he said. "When
I heard it, I had no response. I sat there and cried. That's all I could
do."
The grieving brother said he remembers a wonderful soul.
"Happy memories of summertime, when we would go river rafting, the
Salmon River in Idaho was one of our favorite places, we would go
fishing or sometimes we'd just meet and just sit and talk," he said.
Beverly Flynn
Von Maur employee Janice Hopkins watched as the names of the victims
were read on Thursday morning. Hopkins worked beside many of them,
including Flynn -- a mother of three and fellow gift wrapper.
"This was her second season. She was also a real estate agent -- did
this for Christmas because she thought it was fun and she liked the
discount. Didn't do it for the money, she liked working," Hopkins said.
Dave Moody was Flynn's office manager. He said she was a wonderful
real estate agent and well-respected.
Counselors were expected at the NP Dodge office at 1 p.m. Thursday
and employees planned to take a collection for the family.
Dianne Trent
Creighton University said two of its employees in the Undergraduate
Admissions Office are mourning the loss of family members. Gail
Bachtell's aunt, Jorgensen, and Deb Kolar's cousin, Trent, are among
those who died.
Trent's family attorney, Dennis P. Lee, released a statement.
"Dianne was the third oldest of six siblings. She leaves behind four
sisters and a brother who loved her very much. She grew up in Omaha. She
attended St. Pius and Marian High School and graduated from Benson High
School. Dianne was a dedicated worker at Von Maur for the last eight
years. She was a gentle, generous, soft-spoken woman who loved the Lord.
Dianne enjoyed vacationing with her family. She loved the Christmas
season and shopping. She lovingly took in animals. Anyone who met her
loved her. She was a fabulous aunt to 10 nieces and 13 nephews. She will
be greatly missed by her family and friends."
Trent's funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Leo
Catholic Church.
Creighton University Medical Center trauma director Dr. Leon Sykes
said Joy was the first victim who arrived at their trauma center. He was
dead on arrival. Flynn had a gunshot wound to the chest and minimal life
signs, the doctors said, but emergency medical technicians were doing
CPR and she was taken to surgery. After 45 minutes, she was pronounced
dead.
Wounded Man Called 'Joyful'
The wounded are: Fred Wilson, 61, and Micheale Oldham, 65, who were
both critical but stable on Thursday morning.
At 11 a.m. Thursday, Wilson had been upgraded to serious. Doctors
said he was hit in the arm and they hope to save the limb.
Speaking from the medical center on Thursday afternoon, Wilson's
family said their hearts go to the families of the dead. They said
they've spent a lot of time with Wilson, and he reacts to them a little
bit.
Family said Wilson loves his second career in customer service,
after retiring from teaching in Iowa. They said his interests are wide
and varied, and he is passionate about his hobbies. They said he's a
joyful person and it's contagious.
Oldham had taken two gunshot wounds; one to the abdomen and one to
the back, Sykes said. She was taken into surgery, and on Thursday
morning was in intensive care.
Jeff Schaffart, 34, and Brad Stafford, 55, were both treated and
released.
A fifth person hospitalized after the shooting apparently had a
medical condition unrelated, and was not identified, Warren said.
