Last content update and data verfication was on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 06:27:33 (America/New York — EST — UTC -5) by MEB MediaX Webmaster or authorized designee.
Details
- Mass Shooting
- Von Maur in Westroads Mall Mass Shooting
- Municipality
- Omaha
- State
- Nebraska – NE
- Zip Code
- 68114
- Region
- Midwest
- Division
- West North Central
- Incident Date
- December 5, 2007
- Venue Type
- Shopping Mall
- Killed
- 8
- Injured
- 6
Ranking Data
- Preventable Factors/Rankings
- Blatant Rankings - Points Doubled
- 0
- Preventable Rankings Score
- 6
- Preventable Status
- Largely Unpreventable
Preventable Factors
- Preventable Factor Details
Last content update and data verfication was on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, at 06:27:33 (America/New York — EST — UTC -5) by MEB MediaX Webmaster or authorized designee.
Takeaway(s):
—There needs to be good guys with guns at every venue.
—Guns should never be accessible to those without them.
Incident Preventable Factor(s):
—Venue Lacked Armed Individuals/Personnel – Venue Lacked Armed Individuals (Civilians)/Personnel (Military/Police/Security):
We say it early and often, but there needs to be good guys with guns at every venue. Certainly in workplaces with more than 10 workers which was not the case in this case.
—Unnecessarily Accessible Perpetrator(s) Weapon(s) – Weapon(s) Was Unnecessarily Accessible to the Perpetrator:
All accessed sources agree (which is sometimes just one source repeating another) that the perpetrator stole the gun used during the incident from his stepfather. If that’s true, it’s likely the stepfather didn’t have the gun and ammunition stored separately in locked cabinets which is the standard that should always be utilized.
Editor’s Note:
The perpetrator by all accounts was a very troubled teenager. “[The] director [Todd Landry] of the Nebraska Division of Family and Children’s Services, described for reporters the laundry list of residential treatment centers, and group and foster homes where [the perpetrator] spent much of his teen years, because of his behavioral and psychiatric problems.” 1 However, these events, in and of themselves, particularly because they occurred over a span of many years, don’t raise red flags, at least not in the world we live in today. There are exceptions. “… [T]hose who knew [the perpetrator] most recently in suburban Bellevue said they tried to warn police about his behavior but got no response. … ‘We told them about the drugs, we told them about the guns, and nothing was done.'” 2
Perhaps because nothing could be done.
“All appropriate services were provided when needed for as long as needed,” said Landry.
He hadn’t slipped through the cracks, but the supports that were offered just couldn’t make Robbie [as he was known] whole again. Sometimes, troubled kids don’t thrive in the kind of cookie-cutter services many foster care systems provide. In 2006, the state terminated its custody of Robbie, saying he was ‘nonamenable to further services.’ He had reportedly refused to participate in drug treatment. But Nebraska officials could have ordered him to continue treatment.
Landry said that records do not show exactly why [the perpetrator] was released from foster care, but if he should not have been set free, someone would have raised a red flag. He didn’t explain how he could have known that.
It was clear that [the perpetrator] was a complicated kid, increasingly lost, and lonely. ‘A lost puppy that nobody wanted,’ is how his landlady, Debora Maruca-Kovac, a nurse, described him.” 3
Perhaps we shouldn’t be giving up on a lost puppy, and we suspect if he’d really been one, we wouldn’t have.
Source(s):
1. Unknown. Unknown. “State official: Shooter Placed in Mental Health Facility 5 Years Ago”. CNN. Retereived September 1, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/06/omaha.shooting/index.html.
2. Associated Press, The. December 7, 2007 – Updated May 7, 2016. “Images, Suicide Note Released in Mall Massacre”. The Denver Post. Retereived September 1, 2021, from https://www.denverpost.com/2007/12/07/images-suicide-note-released-in-mall-massacre/.
3. Meyersohn, Jon. February 18, 2009. “Omaha Wonders: Why Did ‘Lost Puppy’ Kill? – People Left Searching for Answers After Nebraska Teen ‘Just Snapped'”. ABC News. Retereived September 2, 2021 from https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3973102&page=1.
Fluidity
- Criminal Case Pending?
- No
- Civil Litigation Pending?
- No
- Trending
- ⯀
Administrative Information
- Credible Source Inquires?
- 3
- Are Credible Source Inquires Inline Endnotes?
- Yes
- Assessment Status?
- Pending
- Editorial Board Approval?
- Pending
Record Information
- Last Updated
- Lexar
- Record ID
- 34
- Private ID
- 00T6O4N
- Date Recorded
- 2021-09-01 15:13:55
- Date Updated
- 2023-10-24 03:10:45
- Last Accessed
- Type Designation