The teenage gunman who shot dead eight people at a Nebraska shopping mall before turning the gun on himself had lost his job at McDonald’s hours earlier after being accused of stealing $17 from the till, it was reported on Thursday.
Robert Hawkins (19) emerged on Thursday as a high school dropout who had spent four years in foster care and had been estranged from his family. He recently broke up with his girlfriend and was sacked from his job at McDonald’s on the day of the shooting, the Omaha World-Herald reported. He had also been turned down by army recruiters, CNN reported.
He left a suicide note that read: ”I’m a piece of shit, but I’m going to be famous now.” The note was discovered at his home soon after the killing. He had been living with the family of a friend. His friend’s mother, Debra Maruca, who found the note, told the World-Herald: ”He basically said how sorry he was for everything.”
Omaha’s police chief, Thomas Warren, told reporters that Hawkins had briefly reconnoitred the Von Maur department store at lunchtime, returning six minutes later with an AK-47 assault rifle concealed under a hooded sweatshirt.
He took a lift to the third floor, stepped out and started shooting, killing six employees and two customers before turning the gun on himself.
The victims were apparently chosen at random and Hawkins did not speak as he opened fire, Warren said.
Hawkins had been taken in by his friend’s family last year after living at several addresses. Maruca described him as an abandoned puppy and said at times he curled up in the foetal position. But she believed he was beginning to get his life together. He had a job, earning about $800 a month, obtained his driving licence and days ago registered a car in his name.
But that world fell apart when Hawkins was sacked from McDonald’s. Maruca said he had been accused of stealing money from the till. McDonald’s did not comment on the report of theft.
Maruca appealed to Hawkins to come home and talk. ”He said, ‘It’s too late.’ He said he’d left a note explaining everything.”
She was aware he owned the assault rifle, she told the World-Herald, but even when she checked Hawkins’ room after the call and discovered the gun was missing, she did not believe he was a danger to others, only himself.
Warren said on Thursday they believed Hawkins had stolen the AK-47 from the home of his stepfather. – Guardian Unlimited Â