OMAHA, Neb. — Chilling surveillance images released Friday show a shaggy-haired Robert Hawkins taking aim at holiday shoppers Wednesday with an AK-47 and opening fire, fatally shooting eight people at the Von Maur store at an Omaha mall before turning the gun on himself.
Surveillance video and still images of the attack show Hawkins, 19, initially walking into the mall unarmed, wearing glasses and a black zippered sweat shirt over a black T-shirt. He returned to the store six minutes later, according to timestamps on the footage.
Video of the department store’s south entrance shows Hawkins entering the store and immediately walking to the elevator to his right. His right hand was tight against his midsection to hide what police said was an AK-47 assault rifle.
Police did not release video of the shooting, but released a still image from the tape that showed Hawkins with his sleeves rolled up, aiming the AK-47 to fire in front of a store mannequin.
Hawkins was a troubled teenager who spent four years in a series of treatment centers, group homes and foster care after threatening to kill his stepmother in 2002. He had recently broken up with a girlfriend and lost his job at a McDonald’s.
On Friday, Kevin Harrington said he went to police a month ago to report his and other parents’ concerns that Hawkins and his friends had easy access to guns, sold drugs and smoked pot with an adult.
Police said the house where Hawkins lived is in an unincorporated part of the city and not in their jurisdiction. Police Chief John Stacey said normally officers pass complaints from that neighborhood onto the Sarpy County Sheriff.
Sheriff’s officials said they never received the complaint.
Harrington, 45, said he told police about a month ago that one of Hawkins’ friends offered to sell Valium to his 13-year-old son. Harrington said he also told police that Hawkins had previously shot at a car during a drug deal gone bad.
“We told them about the drugs, we told them about the guns, and nothing was done,” Harrington said.
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