There was one feeling that was saturating Robert Hawkins on the morning of the 5th of November, 2007.
Rage.
Never considered an attractive kid, 19-year-old Robert Hawkins, a high-school dropout, was a state ward as of the 17th of September, 2002, had a crappy job at McDonald’s and a bad case of acne.
Finding it difficult to live with his mother and stepfather, Robert Hawkins’s parents kicked him out of their Omaha home.
Robert Hawkins was most recently living with some friends at their parent’s house in Bellevue, Nebraska.
Debora Maruka-Kovac, the mother of Robert Hawkins’s friends and his landlord, said she took Hawkins in because he had emotional issues and she wanted to provide him a safe place to stay.
He was very troubled. I had no idea this troubled. I just can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it. He’s a friend of my son’s from school. He’s living at a couple of different places. We took him in. We had two boys. We thought: what was one more if we could help?
He enjoyed hunting, as many Nebraskan kids do.
He also had problems controlling his temper, as outcast-types with no anchor tying them to the rest of society sometimes do. Robert Hawkins had a prescription for and was taking antidepressants.
As life rolled on, with no real prospects for a bright future, and no direction, Robert Hawkins began making worse and worse choices.
On the 24th of November, 2007, Robert Hawkins was arrested on a charge of being a minor in possession of alcohol. His scheduled arraignment was on the 19th of December.
He didn’t make it.
McDonald’s decided that Robert Hawkins wasn’t “arch material” and let him go. Why they did this is still unknown, as McDonald’s management has refused to comment, but the importance of employee background checks to reveal possible security risks is fairly well illustrated in this instance.
Robert was not pleased by this. Not at all.
Upon learning of his termination on the morning of the 5th of November, Robert Hawkins was visibly upset, according to Debra.
He said he’d gotten fired and was pretty upset and said, ‘This is the only way,’ and we tried to talk to him. He was just a very troubled. I had no idea that he was this troubled. I don’t know if it was because he got fired from McDonald’s.
Well, Robert Hawkins had a stolen assault rifle that he had taken from stepfather. Debra had seen the rifle on the night of the 4th of December, but thought nothing of it, thinking that Robert and her kids were going to go out hunting the next day.
Robert did.
After leaving a note for his landlord, explaining that he didn’t want to be a burden to people, that “I’m a piece of shit and now I’m going to be famous,” and that he wanted to “go out in style,” Robert Hawkins and his rifle got into his car and drove for a bit.
They drove to the Westroads Mall in Omaha, which is situated right off the 680 freeway where it meets Dodge Street.
Once there, at about 20 minutes until 2 in the afternoon, Robert Hawkins and his rifle walked into Von Maur, an upscale department store.
His rifle was nicely wrapped in a sweatshirt as he took the elevator to the third floor of Von Maur, which features children’s clothing, customer service and underwear.
As Robert Hawkins took the sweatshirt off his rifle, it might have been the first time anyone ever took him seriously. Brandishing a gun tends to make people take you seriously, which is why they’re so often used by weak, pathetic individuals to force other people to accede to their demands.
After all, can you imagine Robert Hawkins going into a department store without a gun, and anyone quaking in their boots when he passed by?
Robert Hawkins demanded attention, and for six minutes he got it, as he walked through the third floor of Von Maur, firing indiscriminately at targets of opportunity, going through two 30-round magazines.
He wasn’t a particularly accurate marksman, only hitting 14 people and killing 8 of them - but I’m sure that tidbit of information isn’t especially comforting to the families of the people Robert Hawkins’s adolescent temper tantrum took away from them.
As with most cowards, Robert Hawkins didn’t dare face the music when his temper tantrum was over.
Robert shot himself before police showed up on the scene, too pathetic and scared to live another moment.
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He was fired November 5th and went on a killing rampage exactly one month later?
I bet this kid watched alot of movies and ws never a Boy Scout.
It’s too bad kids are “too young” to see the WHOLE picture. They think a zit on their face is the end of the world and need to be taught how trivial their current worries become when they grow and mature!
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i live here in omaha been watching all day and you are the only one that said he went hunting with his friends. the mother that he lived with stated that she didn’t know that he knew anything about guns other than his stepfather had them so he knew from him. and when asked about hunting she said she didn’t know. if he was going hunting with her sons(who he hung out with all the time) she should know.
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by the way he was fired a couple days ago
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He was just a kid. The people who abandoned him deserve hell just as much as he does. The people who make this site, and plaster it in ads to profit from chorus judgement deserve the same as well.
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antidepressant drugs have caused all these shootings.makes you homicidal and suicidal.pills aren’t the answer.
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First of all, It kinda ticks me off people talking stuff about him. Why you might ask? He probably got messed with allot, and I’m guessing life kicked his ass like it does mine. I couldn’t ever kill someone else tho, but the way i see it, he deserves heaven cause he probably had nothing but hell here. The people that gave him hell deserve hell, and i hope they all go to hell for putting him through it. And that goes out to everyone that talks stuff. And I’m sure his girl was a slut or something too…most girls are now days. along with guys. I aint sexist or anything. Anyways, look at the reasons he was so upset. But, if I’m wrong, then i guess he would deserve hell…Oh and ive takein anti depressant pills. i have some. they aint done anything to me….good or bad…..mine may just suck tho
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I don’t get what working at McDonalds has to do with anything.
I’m not out of the picture- I worked at both Happy Steak and Winchells’s Donuts from 14-15. Sucky jobs, but needed.
That seems to be a pretty common stepping stone towards working up from the minimum wage ladder.
But, um, getting killed doesn’t seem to be part of the job. Years later, as a loan officer in a bank, I was personally held up by a freak with a gun… that made more sense. They wanted money. They got it. Over $160,000.
I just don’t remember as a teen, people doing violent crime for seemingly kicks like they do today. I don’t understand it at all.
I was fired from Happy Steak for refusing to g
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STEPHEN BLANK, millions of people are on anti-depressant medication. Hardly any of them go on shooting rampages. To say “Oh, he was on medication, that must be what made him do it” is just about as useful as saying “Oh, he lived in Nebraska, that probably drove him to it” or “Oh, he was a teenager, everyone knows teenagers go on shooting rampages,” or some other simplistic, one-size-fits-all cure.
So if anti-depressants aren’t “the answer”, what is? Vitamins?
Oh, wait, you’re a Scientologist, aren’t you…
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Ok, Brandon, I’m not getting your point.
If you get teased in school it’s ok if you kill random people just because you are mad?
Educate me on who exactly this kid killed, and how personally each of those people bullied this student. Because I’m going to guess they were random hits.
In high school(and grade school), I was teased non-stop, being called ‘carrot-top’, ‘flatsy-patsy’, you name it. After high school I ended up modelling for several years. Even though the things people said to me in school were hurtful, I did not take that as justification to plow down multiple people that had never harmed me, as this (and other kids have done).
I don’t like your implication that being teased in school is a valid justification for killing random teenagers. That is just so lame.
Yes, school bullying is wrong and shoudl be stopped, but it is no excuse for killing people.. otherwise I would have had good reason to mow down many people, and I somehow managed not to.
I don’t like mean people. Never have. But that is not justification to kill.
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Yeah I have to side with GloryBug here… I don’t care how tough he had it, that doesn’t make it okay for him to go on a shooting rampage? Even if the people he shot were specific targets which I highly doubt. I’m pretty sure they just happened to be whomever he could see as he walked that last path.
So by the logic of your statement, because someone once called me a dork in high school I now have the right to go shoot some people? That’s frightening really, it makes me wonder what is stopping you from doing it right now?
If you say life kicked your ass as it probably did his, yet you can not kill someone while essentially looking the other way here, that’s hypocrisy and doesn’t add up. One or the other which is it? Even though I, and I’m sure plenty of others, wouldn’t like it if you decided to kill yourself at least you’d have your logic straight though pointed in the wrong direction in that case.
I guess I’m rambling now, anyways your logics confounds me I guess is the main point here.
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Living in the USA is allready hell for a lot of people. So from one hell to the other… USA: From the land of milk and honey it became the land of nothing. Glad I live in Europe.
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Strange how people can lose all perspective at such a young age, clearly something else was wrong with him, you cannot simply blame outside factors for something like this.
To shoot random people requires an absolute inability to feel for others.
It does make you wonder what sort of social services exist for kids such as this.
Because to lose all perspective like that?
At 19? When you have your whole life ahead of you?
I couldn’t recognise myself from when i was about 18-19 to now being 29 years old.
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he is my personal hero. how great must it feel go out in a style like that…… :D
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People, what a sad tragedy again. Personally things like these doesn’t really surprise me. I’m not from the US, live in Europe, and from here we see things go from bad to worse with the US Firearms regulations. Explaining it by stating that everyone should have the right to defend themselves, as quoted often in the more southern states, is just utterly ridiculous. People like this gunman, and all other highschool/college tragedies, have twisted minds and can get their hands on weapons way to easy. I really think the biggest threat for the US is the amount of weapons in hands of their own inhabitants..
Anyway, what I actually wanted to point out was what are your thoughts on the scary commenter “Brandon Norwood” who left a weird statement above and fully fits in a mentally sick and dangerous profile. Click his name for his myspace and you’ll know what I mean… Could this be a future sicko?
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antidepressant drugs did not have caused all these shootings but legal guns on every corner of the street.
I thank god i life in Holland with all the pills and drugs.
But i can go shopping without the fear getting killed by a sicko who can buy a gun with permission of our President.
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No future , nohting to hope for , nothing to dream about …
What other option did he have ?
Don’t blame him , blame society in general .
This world isn’t worth fighting for anymore , this world is long dead .
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@Uber: maybe, but then he should have just killed himself. no need for killing innocent people..
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Another suicidal gunman, what’s new in this society? I hate the media, and they’re just going to exploit this kid and make him as he mentioned in his suicie letter, “famous”. He’ll get more air time than the victims. It always happens no matter who the suspects are. It’s sad, but who’s truly the blame? Everybody picks the suspect because he’s an easy target. Perhaps, if guns were actually outlawed 8-9 people would be living right now.
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Ok, there are some really misguided people commenting on this article, so I’m going to clear things up for you:
Regardless what trials life had thrown at young Mr. Hawkins, this f%$#ing dirtball went into a shopping mall and killed 8 people in cold blood. 8 people that had children, parents, friends. 8 people that meant something to someone else.
Anyone who sympathizes with this piece of sh#$ needs to shake themselves.
I have a harsh bit of truth for you: there are people in society that don’t deserve your sympathy. There are people that don’t belong in society. Anyone who would take this fool’s side when he slaughtered 8 people in a shopping mall needs a good, hard slap. Stop to think about how you would feel if one of your children, your spouse, or a parent was gunned down by this scumbag. Would you be defending him then? Don’t insult the people the tragedy affected by making excuses for this piece of human waste.
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A very strange scenario. I am not sure why he chose a shopping mall to commit suicide. Both my husband and I worked there a few years ago, but I never thought the mall was “safe”. We saw many fights and shoplifting. There was a rape in the parking lot and several robberies while I worked there. My heart goes out to all those involved. This world isn’t doomed, we are privy to more information due to technology and the global village we have created. Bad things happened in the “good old days”, it just wasn’t over reported.
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Can’t argue with that, Angrier Citizen.
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@angry citizen. When I think about it, if someone is killed I should wonder WHY he did it. Perhaps he wasn’t accepted by society. It’s not your right to judge who belong in society and who doesn’t. Everyone needs someone. And if this society of yours turns down people, I don’t want to belong to it either (happely I’m not an american)Even this article is tragedy, especially the poll: “Does Robert Hawkins deserve Hell?” Who are YOU to decide that? God? No, I don’t think so
(whatever you may think after I’ve typed this, it’s still wrong what he did, but it seems it has become pretty common in the USA to gun down people at random)
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we are not seriously debating wether this kid had a right to shoot random people due to the fact he was depressed/bullied/beaten/whatever?
if that is indeed considered justification, i better get myself a couple .44’s and a shotgun and go postal in a mall near you.
If you kill another person like this, you’re a sad piece of shit and no matter how much hell you’ve had on earth, more brimstone and sulphur will be on your way.
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Hey GET REAL: Antidepressants have been proven to cause suicidal behavior in teens. A pill is not the answer to all of life’s problems.
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Of course this dude is messed up in the head
and whatever he did is wrong.
But putting up a poll like “does he deserve hell” on the end of this story doesn’t make the yes-voters very humane as well.
Is this supposed to be some way of satisfaction or something?
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This whole article is a big joke if you ask me ;) To few news and to much opinion and speculation
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I got made fun of.
I’m gonna go kill fucking everybody.
Because Brandon told me it wasn’t wrong.
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Count me as another who believes anti-depressants played a role in this.
“Angry Citizen”, I’m not sympathizing with the killer.
“Get Real”, I’m not a scientologist. Science has proved that cigarettes cause cancer. Does every smoker get cancer?
The big pharmacutical companies have already paid hush money to victims’ families in previous shootings.
Hell of a side effect, huh?
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I dont believe anyone that was this disturbed should ever be considered to go to Jail. This boy had all kinds of problems and no one ever thought “Hey this boy is seriously disturbed maybe we should take him to a therapist and see if he has PSD OR BIPOLAR. because it seems to me he does and anti depresents dont really work all the time. This boy needed to talk to someone and i mean really talk to someone and his mom being the bitch that she appears to be didnt give to shits about him. I believe that if this boy robert got the help he needed we would sit here and post comments on whether or not he should go to jail. 1 that is not our decision to make no matter how bad we sometimes want to make it. That is gods job and now Robert can get that love. help. and attention that he so badly needed. My prayers goes out to all the victims and their families. and my prayers also goes out to Robert if only you could of taken a different route.
may god rest your soul.
and for all the other bastards that dont agree with me fuck yall…
MUAHS
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NOT JAIL HELL I MEANT TO SAY*
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ok Stephen…first thing: Anti-depressents are fine if they are administered properly and there is some self control. if you mix them with alcohol and other controlling substances you’re bound to lose it. did you not see that he was arrested for having possesion of booze. Once you get to a point when you medicate and then self medicate you’re bound to be so far underneath rock bottom that a papercut could set you off. Him getting fired was just the straw that broke the camels back.
second: I don’t understand why he picked the childrens level. How many children were injured? It’s always the fucking children.
third: McDonalds isn’t that bad. My uncle in Missouri owns like 7 of them and they are bank. It just depends if you try.
fourth: nothing else to say right now. maybe more later
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Although his final action was unacceptable, I really feel for this kid. Only God knows the state of mind he was in during those final moments; the lack of hope the desperation. May God have mercy on this poor soul as well as the souls of his victims.
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Rot in pieces.
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Dutchie: We’re not a “news” site. We’re a blog. Read the disclaimer here: http://pysih.com/disclaimer/
Regardless, we make a diligent effort to make sure the facts that we present as facts are, indeed, facts. If you see something that you know is wrong, please don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know.
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@Gabriel
Amen to that :)
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@ Admin
Oh, didn’t read that. Sorry about what I said then (the news/facts part)
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He arrived in hell yesterday after murdering 8 people and commiting suicide. good riddance.
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two words: gun control….
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I agree with what you said about the kid, he was messed up. However, I didn’t agree with your comment, “He enjoyed hunting, as many Nebraskan kids do.” This shooting has already put a bad light on Omaha. I don’t know many people who actually do hunt! Not everyone in Nebraska is a gun-toting crazy person.
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Ok, if you really live in Omaha, you know that there are a lot of people who like to hunt in the general area. People come from out of state to hunt here. There’s a big hunting and shooting scene here. The Bullet Hole on Harrison is always busy, for example. And why do you think they put a Cabela’s over at Harrison and I-80? That’s right - hunting and fishing.
While there are some people who are anti-gun, there are more who respect gun rights. One person with a concealed carry permit and a pistol could have solved this problem - had they been in Von Maur’s customer service area at the time, and if Von Maur allowed people with concealed weapons into the store.
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ok people, just because cetain people are teased and have problems doesn’t mean one god damn thing. Look, I have my own problems, I am not the most attractive person either, I have family problems and I’m not the most popular guy. I’m 17 and I have a shitty job. I just look at the future in the positive way. You only have one life to live . You have to live it at the fullest. Eight people didnt get to finish there lives that way. Anyone who fuckin feels bad for this peice of shit is a complete idiot. Stating “now im gonna be famous” is just an excuse for more shits like him to carry out the same ordeal. Wake up people.
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For what it’s worth, I don’t think he is unattractive at all. The opposite actually.
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Samantha - he looks like a cross between David Koresh and Napolean Dynamite.
Have you been drinking?
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Ha! So I wasn’t the only one to see Napolean’s face in that picture… that’s good to know.
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I think we can all agree that the years between the ages of 12 and 19 can be ROUGH! My junior high days were from the pit of hell. I say this because every time I hear about one of these sad sacks that commits a crime like this, I wonder what it would be like if every bullied, insecure teenager went on a murderous rampage. I’m pretty sure our country would no longer have a social security problem because no one would even make it out of high school. I have a hard time being sympathetic to these folks. There are plenty of people who have gotten the fuzzy end of life’s lollipop and that sucks. But, I tend to lose sympathy when those people murder other innocent people in an act that can only be described as the epitome of selfishness.
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To all you people who think he is a bad person and had no right to do what he did. He doesn’t care what you think! Do you get that? Neither will the next person or the next person. Your bad opinion of them will not stop them from doing what they are going to do.
I’m not really for shooting down people who didn’t do anything to you. Some of them might have even been your friend if you could have got to know them. But I certainly understand why anybody would want to do that, and it is at least good that they finally tried to stand up for themself, even though they did it the wrong way.
All you people that are for society and the right of society to put us misfits and outcasts through hell. Eff you. I’m not going to come kill you, but I wouldn’t shed any tears if it happened either. People like you are the problem. You are the ones that drive somebody to the point where they have nothing left to lose. Why should a person who is ALREADY in hell care about who is innocent or who might disaprove of what they have done. Their life is already over. They will end it as they choose. If it makes them feel better to “take a fins escort to hell with them” - well, who was it that drove them to the point where that was the only thing left to give life meaning.
Nobody is born a homicidal maniac. Nobody wakes up one day and decides that this will be their goal in life. We are people who have tried and tried as hard as we can to be part of your society, and your society has spit on us and turned its back. Yes, killing is wrong. But you people kill the spirit and the soul of your victims, and you get away with it.
Why is there even a concern about bullying today. Not because anybody likes the victims or are really sorry for them. It’s because they are afraid of what might happen. And it took some mass killings to get their attention. Anybody who thinks the killings are wrong should ask why this bullying was allowed to go on for so many years. It was allowed to go on because there were no consequences. Now there have been consequences - and now there is a move to stop bullying. Say what you want - insane violence works.
If you want to stop violence, open up the doors and let us outcasts come in. Let us be part of your society. That’s all most of us have ever wanted. But I guess it’s too much to ask of selfish hard-hearted people.
Have a nice day.
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Thats the exact response that I would expect from someone whose name is Ticked Off at Society!
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Lerching,
Are you saying I have no right to be ticked off? Careful - you have no idea what I’ve been through. And I’ve tried to be nice and be a good person. But there are limits.
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While I wouldn’t begin to guess what caused this kid to snap. I will say that it is very true that the antidepressants could have been a factor in his actions. These medications can and do have adverse effects on different people who take them. Thats why they are/should be monitored by a doctor. Add alcohol and/or other drugs and you have even more problems.
Believe me I’m not making excuses for what this kid did but these are the risks of giving a depressed person drugs without monitoring their behavior while taking them. Just wanted to give my 2 cents.
I feel great sorrow for all involved…
Wakado !!!
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Ticked Off at Society!: You can feel however you like.
Personally, I don’t see why anyone would care what you’ve been through when you present yourself as someone who has “tried to be nice and be a good person” but then say “But there are limits.”
You’re saying, “Careful” for what reason? Are you going to go out and shoot someone too? Are you that pathetic?
Do you feel we’re picking on you?
You don’t work in the computer field do you?
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listen ticked off at society,
I believe you totally have the right to be mad and upset for whatever the reason is. I honestly meant no harm in what I said earlier.
But murdering innocent people for ones own problems is totally wrong. And to defend Robert A Hawkins motivation on what he did is beyond me.
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I tried to be clear that I don’t intend to kill anybody, and I think it is wrong. I have ethics and I have values. But I have similar feelings about life to the people who do these things, and I think somebody should stand up and support the fact that they were victimized to the point where they saw no other way out.
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Admin,
No I don’t feel anybody here is personally picking on me. But some here seem to not see a problem with the fact that society in general does make life difficult or impossible for its weaker members.
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Life isn’t fair. Everyone is the weakest at some point in their life.
Heroism can be defined as defending the weak and good against the evil and strong.
Don’t condemn society for not consisting entirely of heroes. Not everyone is cut out for heroism.
Cowards such as Hawkins aren’t worth the breath it took to create them.
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Admin,
Sorry, I read through your post fast and missed one point. Why do I say careful? Not in any sense a threat as it might have appeared. I meant careful about making assumptions about what the poster knows nothing about. I think I have a right to my anger, and I thought, perhaps wrongly, that his post implied otherwise.
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Not too sure how much I believe antidepressants solve physical/chemical imbalances in the body, but I’m pretty sure it’s bad doctoring to medicate people for ‘life’s problems’.
It is not a good solution to dull the senses instead of trying to find solutions to your problems.
The girl in the Lori Drew case was supposedly on antidrepressants. She’d been more than a little bullied. Yet, she killed herself rather than other people. That needs to be looked into- why people in similar situations, on similar meds, take such different paths. It seems like one type takes things personally, whereas the other focusses on society in general as being the cause of their problems… which is why they kill random people.
Life is not about instant gratification or some ‘right’ to have a perfect, non-problematic life, and I wish that pharm cos would stop pushing this idea that you should take a pill every time you don’t get your way. Maybe they should be focussing their research on finding a med that makes people not want to kill other people, instead.
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Admin,
Your continued harsh condemnation of Hawkins as a person illustrates part of the problem I’m concerned about. Everybody is worth something. You choose to judge this young man by one tragic act. Perhaps others chose to judge him because he was “weird” or not like them. When members of society think it is right or acceptable to deny the worth of a person, for whatever reason, they have basically declared war on that person. If society declares me “worthless”, what right have they then to expect my good behavior? They may get my good behavior, because I try to be a better person than they are. But strictly logically, they’ve got nothing coming.
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So if you get picked last to play in a softball game, you get to declare war on them?
Perhaps a saner response to being picked on and being declared worthless is to take steps to improve your situation and increase your value to both yourself and society. That’s an adult response to adversity.
“Screw it, I’m taking my ball and going home” is a childish response, and that’s what these shooters are doing.
And no, you’re wrong. Everybody is not worth something. There’s a large percentage of humanity that isn’t worth anything.
In fact on the strictest economical terms, they have a negative value.
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yes, one tragic act that left families devestated. This is a situation beyond tragic. Its pathetic. There are other ways to recieve help, ok? Everyone has problems. Find a way to deal with them, theres even solutions, for fixing an “outcast.” If you clarify yourself as one, thats ur fucking fault. You chose the way u made u, not anyone else. Not all of society will shun a person. Thats a hell of allota people then kid.
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Admin,
Your last post raises a lot of issues. You criticize the victim for not being “adult”, for being “childish”. You say they should try harder to be of value. This seems wrong to me in a couple of directions. First - Hawkins and most of the others who have done what he did are young. Yes, 19 is “adult” in most states. But passing a law that says someone is an adult doesn’t make it come true. When I was young, the legal age of adulthood was 21. So it is actually a pretty fluid state of affairs. Everybody has their own rate of maturity, and a legal “adult” may still be a child in the ways that matter. But this is certainly not grounds to say they are a bad person. Interestingly, there is recent research that suggests that the parts of the brain that give rise to our emotions are well developed during the teenage years, but the parts that cause us to stop and think and exert control of our behavior typically are not well developed until the early or mid twenties. Secondly, there is evidence from the accounts of Hawkins’ life that he was trying to “increase his value”. He had gotten a job, gotten his driver’s license, and people who knew him say he always tried to be helpful and nice. Guess he was doing things “right” by your standards, but it wasn’t enough for society to accept him.
I should also point out that getting picked last for a softball game isn’t the point at all. Years of consistent isolation and rejection in the face of the victim’s every attempt to be part of things is a little more accurate. Maybe not with Hawkins - we don’t know a lot of those details about him - but in my own case that is what it has been like. But - you may say - I haven’t killed anybody. Correct. Nor do I plan to. But “There but for the grace of God…” or if you prefer, “There but for fortune…”. Everybody has a breaking point. Nobody really knows where that is, for themself or for another, until it happens. And then it’s too late.
Now let’s discuss the worth of people. From the point of view of market economics you are certainly correct. Many people are worth more to the economy dead than alive, under our current market-oriented notions of what is value. That is an important reason why I don’t accept market economics as a measure of value in my own ethical beliefs. Malcolm X once said that the real tragedy of racism was that young black children who might have the potential to conquer space or cure cancer would never have that opportunity because of racism. Well, the impact of racism is now less - at least for black kids who are middle class or above. But there are always excuses found to deny the potential that a person has to make a contribution. When you, or others in society, designate somebody a loser - often on the basis of very limited knowledge about their mental and moral qualities - you do society itself a disservice. That person might have made a contribution - had they been allowed to participate. Life is full of examples of people who started out appearing to be nobody special. or even bad, who rose to become productive or even great. Who are you to say you know people for whom this can never happen?
I am not Christian in any usual sense, but I do believe that the Bible is right when it says we are created in God’s image. I think people need to respect that. And, yes, Hawkins should have respected that rather than shoot people. But it appears that life taught him a different lesson. And those responsible for his state of mind should share the responsibility for his act.
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Hating on someone who went through a shitload of depression, in his life? I find that quite pathetic.
admin: Who hates people who go through depression? Hate people who shoot 8 innocent people.
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Here’s the scoop. He was a coward. Plain and simple… and to all of his buddies that think they’re not going to reap what they helped to sow… think again. We’ll be posting your names soon enough.
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pussy,
Should I be scared?
Just wondering.
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i live in omaha and my biggest concern right now is for those out there that are relating to him. all over the news today you heard from profilers and other specialists calling him a loser. get real he had problems (like we do), but didn’t know how to handle them. by calling him a loser how many others out there will be thinking that sounds like me then hear he was a loser. how will they take this and what will the results be.
as for gun control- umm he stole it from his stepfather didn’t he?
anti-depressants - could be but we will never know
this will be discussed over and over with different people being blamed.
my opinion is that we need to do our best (personally) do what we can for all those involved.
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No one gets through life unscathed. We all have to face some trials. However, that being said, who really feels like taking out a worker or a shopper in a mall will deaden the pain? I can somewhat understand when someone is severely outcast that there could be violent repercussions directed at the parties responsible. Note: I said understand, not condone. But this did seem so random. None of the victims knew him and vice versa. Depression is real, but some people confuse it with the natural rhythm of the human brain. No one is happy all the time. The bottom line: would it be easy to see his side of this story if it was your mom/dad/sister/aunt/uncle etc.?
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Ticked off: I think he was referring to Hawkin’s friend that was arrested today for threatening someone via text message for talking badly about our dead Mr. Hawkins.
Christina: I think the scenario you’re talking about would lead to something like the new “I Am Legend” movie that’s coming out shortly.
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Ticked Off: You’re coming across as more than slightly bent.
You say that everyone has their breaking point.
There are countless people who came before us, who are living now, and who are yet to be born that will endure hardship, hardship that I am quite sure Mr. Hawkins never had to endure. While their levels of suffering surpass anything Hawkins went through, somehow they managed to get through life while not killing random people in a shopping mall, or town square, or village.
“Everybody has their breaking point.” Don’t make me laugh. While that is a truism when talking about torture, but we’re not talking about torture when we’re talking about Mr. Hawkins. We’re talking about someone who was in the bottom rung on the social ladder who wanted to strike back at a society that spurned him, instead of taking steps to join that society as a productive, positive person.
The evidence that you point to is only evidence to the most trusting eye. Getting a job and a driver’s license, while good steps to take, are, in the end, worth nothing without the right mindset.
As for the youth issue, that point can be refuted by looking at history. Amazing how few mass murders were committed by children back in the first part of the 20th century, isn’t it? I’m sure kids were even more cruel back then - just ask someone who lived through those times about the cruelty people were capable of back then.
Glorification of antisocial attitudes, the anti-hero and shortcuts to prosperity are directly responsible for the events of December 5th.
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Angrier Citizen: I couldn’t agree more.
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I have to agree that striking out at people who aren’t the ones who did anything to you is kind of stupid, although I perfectly understand coming to the point where considerations like that no longer seem to matter.
On the other hand, nobody yet has addressed my earlier point that there was no organized concern about the problem of bullying until the mass killings started. Like it or not, right or wrong, that is a very powerful indicator of something.
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There’s an organized concern about bullying because people love to organize and fret about the most recent cause to come down the media pipe - nothing more.
The outrage and hand-wringing will slow down and crawl to a halt until the next incident occurs and the whole process begins anew.
Strange how these people never strike back at their bullies. They always go for the innocents, the unaware. They always do it in the most cowardly way possible.
I would understand the process of standing up for yourself, if bullied, even to the point of fatality. Self-defense is perfectly acceptable.
I would understand someone standing up for another person who was being bullied. Risking yourself to save others is an extremely noble act.
These types of incidents fall into neither of the above categories and simply can’t be justified as the thrashings of a victim in pain.
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Admin,
You say that breaking point applies only to torture. Unless you yourself have endured the experience of spending years living excluded and rejected and having to see every day those who enjoy the friendship and love that you yourself will never know, then you are not qualified to say whether it is comparable to torture or whether to expect someone subject to that to eventually break.
As to others who have endured hardship. There is hardship, and there is hardship. I recommend to you Victor Frankel’s book “Man’s Search for Meaning”. Frankel, a Jewish psychiatrist was imprisoned in a Nazi death camp. The first part of the book is about his experiences in the camp. The second part is about the implications of those experiences for psychotherapy. In short, Frankel observed that those who survived the experience were those who could find a meaning in their suffering. I suggest that it is difficult, if not impossible, to find meaning in being born into a society that consistently turns its back on you for no good reason.
You suggest that Hawkins lacked the “right mindset”. But those who knew him say that he was consistently pleasant and helpful to those around him. What more are you suggesting he should have done, to meet your approval as a worthwhile person?
The “youth issue” is not refuted by your point. You are the one who called these responses to rejection “childish”. I pointed out that a “childish” response is expected from those of a young age. And, the fact this did not happen as much 50 years ago is a reflection of different social conditions. Guns are more available, and shooting as a means of self-expression is more accepted by society. In my day, my own response to persecution was to bloody the nose of a guy older and bigger than me. It stopped the active persecution (because there were consequences!) but it did not lead to acceptance.
And, as to glorification of anti-social attitudes, as long as society persists in its evil ways anti-social attitudes will be glorified, and with reason. Society - if you don’t want the name, stop playing the game!
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Admin,
You make my point about opposition to bullying. The issue is addressed when the victims create consequences for society, not otherwise. What lesson do you expect the bullying victims to take from that observation?
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What a piece of scum. It surprises me that about 40% of people don’t think he deserves hell. People who can’t deal with their own problems and make themselves feel better and seem important by killing others, that is the most pathetic thing.
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I’m really quite taken aback at how there are people out there who are actually hailing this kid for “fighting back”. I think we can all be pretty certain that none of the people who bullied him were Christmas shopping in the department store. Further more, I make no judgements about “outcasts”. EVERYONE is an outcast at one time or another! I think it’s pretty important to point out that the reason this kid is being reviled is because he shot and killed or wounded innocent people, not because he didn’t sit at the “cool table”. There is NO EXCUSE for killing and hurting innocent people! What this Mr. Hawkins did was purely selfish and there is nothing admirable or noble about his actions. Maybe instead of trying to sympathize with the late Mr. Hawkins, you could direct your righteous indignation to the plight of the families and friends left behind to mourn their loved one who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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After reading what’s been posted here about R. A. Hawkins, I think a few have it right, and a few have it wrong. People outside the U.S. think it has something to do with guns, and that is not the case. Down through time people have always found a way to kill other people, and guns are not always the weapon of choice. I hear about killings all over the world, and so outlawing guns doesn’t seem to stop the killings. Where you have people, you have idiots that will take the life or lives of others, and that is the sad truth. They all have what they think is a reason to kill, and it’s always the same crap. “I was treated badly”, “Life sucks”, “My God is better than your God, and if you don’t believe what I believe I will kill you” kind of crap.. People who take the life of another for no reason at all is a mental moron. Can’t deal with life of can’t get a life, then don’t take it out on people who are doing just fine with their lives. It’s the game of life, and if you drop out or push others out of the game, your the looser!!
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No better illustration why we need concealed carry permits (which Nebraska does have). It’s just too bad that an upstanding citizen who was legally packing wasn’t there to end him before he killed those poor people.
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This is a horrible, horrible website. Clearly this kid had extreme depression which was never dealt with. There is no reason in the world for people to exploit him the way this website is.
Everyone should be focused on the real issue at hand that too many people face everyday: Depression. Pointing out Robert Hawkins’ case of acne or popularity status that this society drives itself on is ridiculous and only makes you look incompetent.
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Yeah, we really are all terrible people, just sitting around making fun of some poor emo boy. God, I really can’t think of anything more horrible anyone could possibly ever do than cracking jokes about some poor, innocent, depressed teenager…
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I worked many years for the State of Nebraska. They have their workers work on cases and get so many done per week. The more cases you move—crap work is ok—the faster you move up.
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We freely admit our incompetence, and humbly beg for your patience.
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I am going to break something to all of you posting here about how we should all feel for the poor young man, and how we are all so cruel for passing judgement on him for his actions when we should be trying to understand what drove him to that state.
This site’s admin and I are co-workers, and at our day job we keep our community’s worst type of human garbage from going out and victimizing any more of you. Call us jaded, but you have no idea what sort of animals breathe the same air as you in your community.
It’s all well and good to sit in your safe little home in your nice neighborhood and make yourself feel noble about how liberal you are, and how the world would be a better place if everyone saw things the way you do.
The real world is nothing like that. Most people do not have the worldy comforts or opportunities that you do. Many do not want to expend the effort necessary to achieve anything in life. It’s easier to take the fruit of someone else’s labor, or make stupid amounts of cash selling drugs. People steal , hurt, kill to improve their worldly possessions and comfort. The vast majority of repeat criminals are, to one degree or another, sociopaths.
Don’t delude yourself about reaching out to people, making a difference, or any other liberal feel-good rhetoric you want to throw out there. There are people in the world that are no good, and screw fixing them, and who cares how they got there. Ultimately, all acts are a matter of DECISION, not influence.
You want to make a difference? Be a good citizen. Be a member of your community that does more good than harm. Go to work, pay your taxes, love your family, and raise your children to be like you. That is all you can do, and if we all did it, the world WOULD become a better place, in time.
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Some good points Angry Citizen. But liberals, being one myself, are pretty cool. I have it on good authority you know a few pretty well.
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Whatever sympathy this piece of garbage deserved was completely negated when he chose to murder 8 human beings. He was a pathetic coward until the very end. His family may have screwed him up (and believe me I hold them VERY responsible for this happening) but he made the decision that he was going to murder people… and for what? A little fame… and a lot of self pity. This kid was worth something at some point in his life but he decided that his little crybaby selfish pity party was more important than the lives of people that did NOTHING to him. He didn’t even have the balls to go to McDonalds and kill people he knew.
This is the clearest example of a totally worthless piece of crap and I hope nobody remembers his name in 6 months. The families of his victims need attention… not this thing that killed them. Bury him in a pine box and let’s move on.
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I think that this kid - that’s what he is, a fucking kid, not a man like some reports are saying - felt like the big bad world had shoved him into a corner. And maybe it did. It sounds to me like he had shitty parents, which can really fuck a kid up, as we have seen on this website. I think this was some dumb, scared, neglected kid who felt like he didn’t matter, and he was so desperate to make himself matter that he did something inimaginable. How scared do you think he was walking into that mall with that gun? Do you think his hands were shaking, his heart pounding? After he fired that first shot, do you think he immediately wished he could take it all back? That’s what I think. I think he was a little kid, throwing a tantrum so that someone would notice him. I feel bad for the guy. And I feel HORRIBLE for all the victims… the innocent lives lost, the families they left behind… They were just going about their lives, looking for Christmas presents for their moms, dads, significant others… and now they’re gone because some stupid, scared, lost kid gave up on the world. Sheesh.
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I know several people who have had terrible lives or child hoods if you will. These people did not go killing innocent people , somebody’s mother or father , brother or sister . Now people want to blame the system , well you can only try to help someone for so long! If they don’t make up their mind to change , then you can’t make them ! I am so tired of people letting Bastards like this off the hook , ” oh gee , he must have been beat ” or ” oh the system didn’t work ” Horse shit ! Quit pissing , moaning ,and bitching and live your life ! Don’t blame others because your a miserable fuck
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I’m sorry Becky but if you kill 8 people for no friggin reason then you dont get to have my pity. I could care less what he went through. I have known a lot of people that have gone though some horrifying things and guess what? They never killed anybody. Ya know… being screwed up and picked on is not an excuse to become something like this. How dare you or anyone else even give 2 thoughts about who he was or what he went through. That has nothing to do with what he chose to do. He gets zero sympathy from me. I would have killed this guy in a heartbeat if I knew what he was about to do… and guess what? I would sleep like a baby knowing his sorry ass was off this planet. If anyone deserves sympathy it is the freaking victims. If anyone deserved to die it was this asshole. I refuse to reward any other potential murderers with sympathy after they destroy the lives of their neighbors. I just hope he didn’t die right away when he took the chicken shit way out.
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I agree, what he did was awful, but i do can relate to this kid, all he wanted was attention.
Just put yourself into his shoes for a second, and you will see that your are living in a hole that sinks you in everyday… and reasons to over come it and survive are fading away… with every miss step taken, everything is worng and i am the fault, am the one to blame. So what i do.. i scream. I scream with a AK47. I scream HELP ME!, am lost, am sad, am lonley, and i need to be heard and loved.
Killing people is not the way, but was his choice. Why? Cause it was cool. Is what’s hot now and that will make him notice and famous. A horrible example for many others to come, making him a Hero for those who got nothing to loose.
It all resumes for a little kid screming for attencion. Hope is something that is planted and seeded in everyones hearts. When you dont have hope, you dont have nothing to loose, and if on top of that you already state your mind that there is nothing else to do. This is the result.
Our only hope is to do our part and try to bring a helping hand for those people at our reach. People now a days dont care about one another, but when a tragedy strikes, then they ask why, and the answer is because we didnt care.
People just dont care, and hope for miracles. How could this kid help himself or could realize that all his problems and life will change someday, if we just didnt care. I dont mean you to adopt the world, but adopt for family, adopt the one’s you care and love. Is a Domino effect that we can spreed through the world to make a differences.
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Ok, the kid had problems. But no one is perfect. Yes it was a stupid decision to go on rampage and kill people before Christmas, but hello! his life sucked. Everybody goes through stuff like that, his life wasn’t great and he was sick of living like that. The stupid, dumb, shit for brains that created this site, deserve to go exactly where he is. He doesn’t deserve to go to hell because his life was hell. It’s not his fault his parents were idiots and didn’t care about him. Don’t have kids if you aren’t going to treat them right, they deserve better than parents like you. The worst part is you people made a joke about this! Nine people are dead, gosh! This site should be shut down. I have a lot of respect for the lady that took Robert Hawkins into her house and treated him like her own. I hope his girlfriend feels really terrible right now.
Have a nice life, you selfish losers!
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Becky said, “After he fired that first shot, do you think he immediately wished he could take it all back?”
Nope, after that first shot, he shot over 30 more rounds so your answer is a big NO! If he had a change of heart, 8 people wouldn’t be dead right now for as you know, 13 people were shot, 8 died and 5 were sent to the hospital.
And Annie said,”The worst part is you people made a joke about this!” What part of this site is a joke? It’s people like you that give people like Hawkins a reason to do such things.. “Oh I’m going to kill people and myself so that people will feel sorry for me and that will show em!” I don’t feel sorry for him, and since he killed innocent people, I’m glad he killed himself so that it saved the tax money of a trial and execution. If I seem cold I’m not. I have just had enough of really stupid people doing really stupid things that others think we should feel sorry for them for. I have never been rich, and have had lots of problems all my life, but life is a game, and I have always stuck with it doing the best I can. So far I have wonderful children and grand children, and they are all doing very well also.. Take what life has to give, and never sweat the small stuff..
R. A. Hawkins lost all rights for sympathy when he fired the first shot.. He had people who cared for him before that, and he pissed that all away..
Nuff Said..
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Hawkins first aimed at the children’s clothing section… I have a toddler and all I can think is a child or baby could have been killed. Picture this image, you hear gunfire and feel something heavy drop next to you and look down to see your baby lying there, dead. This could have happened, easily.
I don’t buy this idea that he wanted to be famous - people who want to be famous want to stick around to enjoy the attention. He was a stupid, pathetic coward who selfishly chose to end lives rather than face his problems.
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I truly believe this young individual went to heaven and ‘learned his lesson’ from God. I think he probably asked for forgiveness, as I think he was probably is a decent kid who made bad decisions with one HORRIBLE decision at the end. To be clear though, I have zero respect for what he did, and had he not cowardly commit sucide, he should have been locked up or sent on death row.
I am 20 years old and only 2 years removed from high school. I had friends and stayed away from all things bad and had good time growing up. I always asked ‘nerds’ or ’social outcasts’ out with my friends to the football games (much to their dismay) or just to play video games with me because I felt bad for how they were treated and avoided. The ones who accepted my invitations were great kids and thankful someone cared. I could tell. I wasn’t looking for anything other than to make them happy or happier about life. One of my teachers said “Be nice to nerds, you never know if they will be your next boss” and my dad was happy I was doing it just because “you never know who could get p*ssed off and bring a gun to school.” (Which reminds me - the day before this h