By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer
8 minutes ago



OMAHA, Neb. - A man with a rifle opened fire at a busy shopping mall Wednesday, killing eight people before taking his own life. Five more people were wounded, two critically.

Shoppers and employees ran screaming through the mall and barricaded themselves in dressing rooms after hearing gunfire. The gunman was found dead on the third floor of the Von Maur department store in the Westroads Mall, in a prosperous neighborhood on the city's west side.

"My knees rocked. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran with everybody else," said Kevin Kleine, 29, who was shopping with her 4-year-old daughter. She said she hid in a dressing room with four other shoppers and an employee.

Keith Fidler, a Von Maur employee, said he heard a burst of five to six shots followed by 15 to 20 more rounds. Fidler said he huddled in the corner of the men's clothing department with about a dozen other employees until police yelled to get out of the store.

Sgt. Teresa Negron said the gunman killed eight people, then apparently killed himself. His name was not immediately released, and authorities gave no motive for the attack and did not know whether he said anything during the rampage.

A witness, Shawn Vidlak, said he heard four or five rapid shots "like a nail gun." At first he thought it was noise from construction work going on at the mall.

"People started screaming about gunshots," Vidlak said. "I grabbed my wife and kids we got out of there as fast as we could."

Shortly after the shooting, a group of shoppers came out of the building with their hands raised. Some were still holding shopping bags.

President Bush was in town Wednesday for a fundraiser in Omaha, but left about an hour before the shooting.

The sprawling, three-level mall has more than 135 stores and restaurants, according to the Web site for General Growth Properties, the manager of the mall. It gets 14.5 million visitors every year, according to the Web site.

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Associated Press writers Anna Jo Bratton, Josh Funk and Eric Olson contributed to this report.

Guns for everyone! The more the merrier

Too bad he didn't get that creepy mall Santa

Seriously though...isn't this depressing?

These people were out buying things for their friends and loved ones, thinking about the holidays, and they get blown away by some fruitcake.

gemini13 said:

And they probably are just as rabid about this man's 2nd amendment right to bear arms.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

gemini13 said:

Personally I feel horrible that people died because of this nutjob's psychosis. But at the same time, those dead people are probably the first to cheer with foam in their mouths GUNS GUNS GUNS!. This is what you get in a gun loving country. Death.

this shit and the crap that happened at that Hillary Clinton Office
is gonna dig us deeper in the pit called the War On Terror.


UHG!

I hate these idiots that have to go on a spree before offing themselves. It's truly fucked up. Just do YOURSELF & get it over with if you really feel it's necessary, but dammit don't drag other families into shock/grief/funerals b/c YOU have a fucking issue

CalhounSq said:

I wish that were always the way.....

CalhounSq said:

What ... ??? ... I won't get noticed if I just do myself, making a final statement is extremely important. These people don't give a flying fuck about themselves, let alone other people.

Then again, it's been a while since the last shooting. 9 is actually a good score for an undertrained gunman.

CalhounSq said:

And yet God Bless America refuses to ban guns

liberation said:

Why do that? You would infringe on this man's right to bear arms and that is a god given right!. Don't you know the constitution?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

that document is hundreads of years old that reflected the old west, it's not needed today. Compare the murder rates by guns of America that that of countries that ban guns.


God given right???....to kill people?

Are you guys taking swipes at the midwest, by saying that they're strongly supportive of the right to carry guns or is it a swipe at America in general?

I am a resident of Omaha and would like to state that we're not a bunch of gun-toting hicks. I know that a lot of y'all are from overseas and its probably a swipe at America and I'm too sensitive to remarks about Omaha (which is an incredible city BTW).

Anyway, something like this is so inexplicable and unimaginable! I can't think of any feasible way to stop this type of random, untargeted violence in America.

Stay safe you guys and happy holidays!

th13182 said:

Oh it's a swipe at America in general, no apology being offered for my swipe either.

th13182 said:

fucking. ban. guns. already. we deserve to be 'swiped at', for god's sake, we refuse to do that and then wonder why shit like this happens.

liberation said:

swipe

Rock Music is to blame.
I can't believe no one else was armed.

th13182 said:

Well it might have been an assumption on my part but you'll have to excuse us big city folk for not really knowin that there is a rational spot over in Nebraska. Bottom line, people in your part of the country that reliably support the Republican party are flip out cases when it comes to guns and they need them like a heroin addict needs his drugs.

There is little to no rationality when it comes to gun supporters. Hell, I hate guns but support the right to own them but god forbid you put any checks or balances on the gun industry and how they are manufactured and or sold in this country. People just have this love of their guns and there is no talking sense to them and just so long as we have little to no regulation when it comes to these things, people will just end up dying in these masacres. And they will be dying over the fruit of their own beliefs.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=888784

I drove past this mall about 20 minutes before this happened. I pass this mall every day on my way to and from work.

A father and son (if I remember the details correctly) that were killed were buying Valentines gifts.

These mass shootings are horrible.

Someone called me an idiot for my post and won't allow me to reply to their orgnote. Pussy

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Nothinbutjoy said:

My geography is horribly off cuz I had no idea you were so close to this. Like Cali said, I wish this stupid ass would have just offed himself instead of dragging others into his mania.

Could everyone here just not be a fuckface?

Except for Supa!

gemini13 said:

Well I wasn't wishing people were dead. What I said is true. The same people that these massacres tend to happen to are the same people that chant for guns like a religion. Or at least statistically that is very likely in those parts of the cuntry.

I mean what a pussy move to block someone from responding to their orgnote

.
[Edited 12/5/07 19:28pm]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Yeah, that is cowardly for sure! I mean, why bother?

I know what you meant, and this is MY thread mofos.

One of my phobias is being at the mall, and my teenage daughter always insists on going off on her own to look at the teenage girl clothes section, my husband always ends up in sporting goods, and I and my other 2 girls are always on our own....what fear to be caught in this situation while your family is spread out through the store..

PaisleyPark5083 said:

Those poor people.