At least 8 confirmed dead, 5 wounded in Omaha mall shooting

5 December 2007: Initial and unconfirmed reports of a young male wearing an army-green vest and armed with a rifle entered the Westroads Mall in Omaha, opening fire on holiday shoppers - leaving at least 8 people dead and 5 others wounded. Last Friday, police found a live, intact grenade outside of the same mall. It is unknown whether the two incidents are related.

It was a year ago - almost to the day - that federal authorities disrupted a plan by Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef to place grenades inside the CherryVale Shopping Mall in Rockford, near Interstate 90 and Interstate 39, about 75 miles north of Chicago.

8 November 2007: Terror target: Shopping Malls in the U.S.

The Victims

• Beverly Flynn, 47, an employee of Von Maur department store;
• Janet Jorgensen, 66, of Omaha and a longtime employee at Von Maur‘s Department store;
• Gary Joy, 56, a store employee from Omaha, NE;
• John McDonald, 65, from Council Bluffs, Iowa;
• Gary Scharf, 48, agricultural salesman from Lincoln, NE;
• Angie Schuster, 36, of Omaha, a ten-year employee at Von Maur's department store;
• Dianne Trent, 53, also an employee at Von Maur‘s Department store;
• Maggie Webb, 24, a store employee from Omaha, NE.

The Murderer

Robert A. Hawkins, 19

The suicide notes

The note is transcribed below, complete with misspellings but with expletives deleted:

family

I'm so sorry for what I've put you through I never meant to hurt all
of you so much and I don't blame any one of you for disowning me I
just can't be a burden to you and my friends any longer You are all
better off without me. I'm so sorry for this.

I've just snapped I can't take this meaningless existence anymore
I've been a constant disappointment and that trend would have only
continued. just remember the good times we had together

I love you mommy

I love you dad

I love you Kira

I love you Valancia

I love you Cynthia

I love you Zach

I love you Cayla

I love you Mark (P.S. I'm really sorry)

**************************

friends

To all of my friends I'm so sorry for what I've done to you and put
you through. I've been a peice of (expletive) my entire life it
seems this is my only option. I know everyone will remember me as
some sort of monster but please understand that I just don't want to
be a burden on the ones that I care for my entire life. I just want
to take a few peices of (expletive) with me. I love all of you so
much and I don't want anyone to miss me just think about how much
better you are off without me to support. I want my friends to
remember all the good times we had together. Just think tho I'm
gonna be (expletive) famous. You guys have always been there for me
I'm just sad that I'm gonna have to go this alone. You guys are the
best friends anyone could ever ask for. That's all I have to say is
that I (expletive) you guys.

P.S. I didn't eat that (expletive) sandwich or the toielet thing
either!

**************************

my will

I'm giving my car back to my mom and my friends can have whatever
else I leave behind

Signed (Hawkins' signature)

Social (his Social Security number)