Translated material
Omaha fight
American teenager shot eight people to “die in style” and become famous
Yesterday another tragedy occurred in the United States with the shooting of people. 20-year-old Robert Hawkins opened fire at a Von Maur supermarket in Omaha, Nebraska. There were a lot of visitors there at that time - people were buying gifts for Christmas. The killer began shooting randomly into the crowd from the third floor balcony. In total, according to eyewitnesses, he managed to fire about 40 shots. As a result, eight people were killed, five more were injured, two of them are in critical condition. Hawkins committed suicide with the last shot. The police arrived at the scene six minutes after the call, when the criminal was already dead. Witnesses note that Hawkins behaved extremely strangely - for example, he opened fire at a shopping pavilion in which there were teddy bears.What exactly prompted the young man to commit mass murder will apparently remain a mystery. However, judging by the descriptions of people who knew Hawkins closely, he was a classic “loser.” Several years ago, the teenager was abandoned by his parents, and he lived with a family of friends. According to his adoptive mother, the boy suffered from depression for a long time and had just recently completed a course of treatment with antidepressants. Plus, his girlfriend just left him and he lost his job at McDonald's.
Nevertheless, all of Robert’s acquaintances unanimously claim that they never saw him aggressive; on the contrary, he was a quiet, kind and modest young man who loved pets. True, the family where Hawkins lived said that the young man often got drunk and smoked marijuana.
After the tragedy, the police released the killer’s suicide note, where he wrote that he “dreams of a bright death that would be remembered by many” and “wants to die in style.” The message ended with the phrase: “Now I will become famous.”
It is noteworthy that on the same day that the drama unfolded in Omaha, US President George W. Bush visited the city. However, he managed to leave an hour before the massacre began in the supermarket. Later, the White House press service reported that the president was deeply saddened by what happened and hoped that the residents of Omaha would support each other in difficult times.
Yesterday's incident was the seventh time in 2007 alone that individuals like Hawkins have shot people. On January 3, at a high school in Tacoma, Washington, one of the students started a shootout, as a result of which one person was wounded. A month later, on February 12, an unknown young man started a random shooting in a shopping center in Salt Lake City (Utah). As a result, five people were killed and four more were injured. The attacker himself died during a shootout with police.
One of the most notorious crimes of this year was the incident at Virginia Tech , which occurred on April 16. A 23-year-old student from South Korea killed two people in a university dormitory building. About two hours later, he found himself in the premises of the Faculty of Engineering, where he shot 30 people with two pistols and, after the police burst into the faculty, he shot himself.
Just days later, on April 20, at NASA's Space Center in Houston, electrician Philip Beeley, who had worked for Jacobs Engineering for 13 years, killed his boss. The hostage, whom the criminal took in the office, managed to escape. Bili himself committed suicide. Finally, on the ninth day after the NASA tragedy, on April 29, in the US state of Missouri, three people were killed as a result of a shooting in a shopping center. The criminal was shot dead by law enforcement officers. On October 10, in Cleveland, Ohio, 14-year-old Asa Kuhn opened fire with two pistols at his school. As a result, two teachers and two schoolchildren were injured. Kun committed suicide.