Omaha Mall Shootings

**LizaZ** · 12-05-2007, 09:03 PM

I live in Omaha. Many of you may have heard by now about the tragedy here this afternoon. A 19 year old boy shot and killed 8 people in a shopping mall then himself. Four or five others were wounded.

When the local TV stations broke in with the news around 2:30 not much was known. We did not know exactly how bad it was for several hours. The only name they have released so far is the gunman.

Omaha is not a small town. We do have crime here. Shootings are not all that unusual -- but nothing like this.

I finally had to take a break from it all -- it's just too overwhelming.

**lwlynch** · 12-05-2007, 09:06 PM

wow, I am sure it is just overwhelming. Just wondering why it happened is hard enough to grasp. Take care of yourself. Process it all slowly and we will keep you in our prayers.

**LizaZ** · 12-05-2007, 09:21 PM

Thank you. Please pray for the employees and management of Von Maur department store, other stores in the mall, shoppers who were there at the time, the families of the dead and wounded, and first responders on the scene and of course the people of Omaha. I can't even imagine what the people on the front line are going through.

I did call my elderly parents who live in another state when this first broke -- I knew this would make the national news and didn't want them to hear about it that way. They would have no way of knowing we weren't there.

**Dixie** · 12-05-2007, 09:30 PM

I'm praying for all the people involved.

I live in GA, but I got chills just thinking about those poor people.

**sdrjeolsen** · 12-05-2007, 09:59 PM

I thought about you Lisa when I heard he was from your area. My mom called me just about 30 min after it happened and said I think we just made the national news and shortly there after it broke here. I called my In-laws to make sure they were okay (thst's my SIL's favorite store). My mom said she was shopping there (at the mall, not Von Maur) yesterday....scarry. I feel so bad for the families of those who were killed. Its so tragic. How awful. I was wondering if they released names of the deceased yet. I have tons of family from there and was concerned for them.

With Bush in town, my first thought was that it was terrorism and they knew the police force would be tied up with him there.

**Michelle68** · 12-05-2007, 10:58 PM

That is so sad. I feel so bad for the families of the victims.

--Michelle

**LizaZ** · 12-05-2007, 11:12 PM

The President left about an hour before -- it doesn't seem to be related. Sounds like a troubled kid who wanted to make a big exit.

I don't think they've released names yet. They've been having families go to a hotel across the street to get information on people who worked or may have been shopping in the mall.

Bob's watching the news now. He had heard about it at work, but didn't know how bad it was.

I haven't been out to the Westroads for a long time. I just heard the news say the Mall will still be closed tommorrow. I would think so -- the entire Mall is a crime scene. There's supposed to be news conference tommorow at morning at 9:30. They're still not releasing names.

**Momof3girls** · 12-05-2007, 11:40 PM

Such a tragedy!

**favesis37** · 12-06-2007, 04:27 AM

i live outside of omaha, and it has rocked this state. i also called my mom as she had an dr's appt, in the area and i was afraid she was there. thanks goodness she was not.
Prayers going out to all

**baxjul** · 12-06-2007, 06:37 AM

Sending prayers for all involved in this horrible tragedy.

**Hardy1** · 12-06-2007, 07:03 AM

Just heard this in the UK. Thoughts and prayers to all those involved. How awful.
W

**Katybird** · 12-06-2007, 09:06 AM

This is so tragic. I am keeping all affected by this tragedy in my prayers.

**yonksgirl** · 12-06-2007, 09:31 AM

What a shame that we can no longer feel safe shopping for the holidays! I am so glad to hear you are safe, everyone involved in this are in my thoughts and prayers.

**MarshHen** · 12-06-2007, 09:59 AM

We never turned the TV on all day yesterday until around 6:30 in the evening to check the weather. It just happened to be on Fox News and there it was about mall shootings. It just sent chills up my spine watching it and thinking how horrible it must have been for the shoppers in the mall at the time, and now the families of the deceased and wounded and the entire city of Omaha. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved as well.

I can't help wondering what was going on in this kid's mind that he felt he had to do this. It's just horrible!

**Momto2Boyz** · 12-06-2007, 10:39 AM

My soon-to-be sister in law just called. One of her close friends (and a bridesmaid in her wedding) was killed. I guess she was a manager at Von Maur.

It's just so sad. It took her parents almost 8 hours to find out their daughter had been killed. They finally came across a hotline number that they had to call. After they found the number, it took them another 90 minutes to get through.

My SIL and my brother are beside themselves. They just don't know what to do. They are in Seattle, and the girls family is in Illinois. My SIL said, she has already talked to a counselor, but she is having an impossible time dealing with it. Both her and my brother are law-enforcement officer's, so they deal with crime everday, but she said this is totally different...she just doesn't know what to do. She said death due to accidents and old age or sickness are one thing to deal with. This is on entirely different scale.

My heart goes out to all the families involved. This young man not only took lives, but he disprupted families and friendships that are rippling across the country.

On a side note: I just saw that he said something about "Now, I'll be famous" in a note that he left. After reading that, I decided that I want to know nothing about him. I stopped reading that article and am not going to watch anything about him on the news. If they start talking about him, I plan on turning it off. I have not heard or read his name, and at this point...I'm going to make sure I don't see it. He'll never be famous in my book.