Westroads Mall Shooting

[Captain Kidd]

i just missed the names.......

Dead:
Gary Sharp, a customer and resident of Lincoln
John MacDonald, 66, a customer and resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa
Angie Shuster, 35, an employee
Maggie Webb, 24, an employee
Janet Jorgenson, 66, an employee
Diane Trent, 55, an employee
Gary Joy, 56, an employee
Becky Flynn, 47, an employee

Wounded, was in critical condition, now stable:
Fred Wilson, 61
Michelle Oldham, 65

Treated and released:
Jeff Schaffert, 34
Brad Stafford, 55

A fifth person hospitalized after the shooting apparently had a medical condition unrelated, and was not identified.

Source: KETV

[monolayth]

this whole thing is just starting to hit me....work is gonna suck tonight.

[monolayth]

i just missed the names.......

[SnapAddict218]

where and when? i'll be working tonight...but i might get off early with the snow and people will prob want to be with family tonight and not eating out.

5:30...and I THINK it's at Saint Leos...but that I'm not sure. I'll say on line somewhere, I just have yet to look.

[SnapAddict218]

anyone know when they are releasing names?

They are right now, at the press conerance.

Thank God, I knew no one. Please tell me you guys didn't know anyone. Please please please tell me you guys didn't know anyone.

[monolayth]

anyone know when they are releasing names?

[monolayth]

There is a prayer service tonight not far from here. I think we here at work are thinking about going. Bunny you going?

where and when? i'll be working tonight...but i might get off early with the snow and people will prob want to be with family tonight and not eating out.

[monolayth]

Just checking in.....I'm ok........glad I decided to put off shopping...was gonna go there yesterday.

[SnapAddict218]

I have to drive right by Von Maur to get to work- this morning there was crime tape on the bushes..inches from my car. Cop cars still blocking entrances... and the news people! Holy cow! Everywhere..I've never seen so many news crews...I'm sure my trailblazer will be in the a background at some point.

It was an erie feeling...the mall being deserted like that. What a striking contrast with the pretty white snow falling and the harsh yellow police tape...the pretty store christmas lights and the searingly bright police strobes.

There is a prayer service tonight not far from here. I think we here at work are thinking about going. Bunny you going?

[crazylegs]

JUst popped back online after a few days and I've just heard about this, glad to hear all our fellow CSers are all ok. Look after yourselves guys.

[Pedersen]

What gives me, someone with severe depression and "bad" luck the process of thinking "God, yeah I want people to know and remember me but I'm not going to hurt others?"

If I had to guess, I'd say you were brought up to take responsibility for yourself. Just my opinion, but we're going to see things get very bad in this country in the next 10 to 20 years. Very bad.

More and more children are being raised to believe that they are owed a good standard of living, that they are owed a good life. Fewer people seem to be being brought up to try to take care of themselves.

Put that together with everything I said above, and it's a recipe for disaster. Powerless people who think they're supposed to have a good life handed to them by the rest of the world, and aren't getting that life.

I think you can see where things could get ugly, and quickly.

I'm sorry, I'm rambling. It's just thoughts in my head that are more rhetorical but you know what I mean. I'm still processing here, sorry all.

And I will only demand one thing of you, personally. Come to think of it, I demand it of anybody who is being affected by this (you too Snaps!).

Don't apologize for how you feel.

I mean it. Don't apologize for rambling, for trying to express how you feel. Just don't. You've got a traumatic enough event happening, you don't need to add feeling guilty for having an emotional reaction to it. What you need is the chance to understand your own feelings, and come to terms with them.

I'm no psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist. But I can listen/read. Feel free to vent. I'll read every reply, and talk to you. I might not help you resolve anything. Hell, I might say the wrong thing and make it worse (I try not to do that, really). But I will listen.

And feel free to use any of my IM's as well (check my profile), or PM me, if desired. I know how little I can do from here, but I'll do what I can.

[XCashier]

I'm still processing here, sorry all.

You have no reason to be sorry. You've had a horrible shock and are still recovering. We're all here for you, and Snap, and anyone else who was there.

[Lil Bunny]

I hear what you're saying Pedersen and I agree with it pretty much. I'm just trying to figure out where that fine line is you know? I wanted to die so bad but I didn't want to hurt others in the process. What gives me, someone with severe depression and "bad" luck the process of thinking "God, yeah I want people to know and remember me but I'm not going to hurt others?"

I realize this guy was kicked out by his parents for various reasons. However, he was taken in by a family friend that tried to support him. He had some people on his side. He saw himself as a burden but they just wanted to help him. I guess I don't see it and that makes me even more sad.

I'm sorry, I'm rambling. It's just thoughts in my head that are more rhetorical but you know what I mean. I'm still processing here, sorry all.

[Pedersen]

The question has been asked here: Why would somebody do something so horrific?

The part that scares me is I think I can answer it. Look at the shooters in these cases. Lots of them feel powerless over their own lives. It doesn't matter what they are shooting: Schools, malls, whatever.

They feel powerless. Unable to connect with people around them. Unable to move ahead in life, to improve their station. Unable to do anything that seems to matter.

They are unimportant people, but on a bigger scale than most.

You see, over 99% of the people in this world will never be written about in history books. We will never have a special made about us. We are unimportant.

But, we matter to the people around us. Our families, our friends, and our lovers. We are important to these people. Because of that, we don't really have it shoved in our faces that we are unimportant very often. And when it does happen, we can easily cope by reminding ourselves that, while we may not matter to the world at large, we do matter to the people around us.

The people who go on these shooting rampages don't have that, or at least feel like they don't.

Also, they tend to feel like the reason they don't matter is because of specific types of people. For instance, if you look at the Columbine shootings, you find two kids who could very well have felt the only reason they didn't matter was the jocks/elites in the high school.

When you're completely disconnected, powerless, and desperate to actually matter to somebody, you find yourself looking at more and more extreme ways of becoming someone that matters.

There was a time when the way to do so was to kill yourself, or at least try. If you woke up, you did matter to somebody. If not, at least your pain was over.

In recent years, instead of just inflicting violence on yourself, the trend has been to make damned sure you matter, by killing some of the people who held you down, and then killing yourself. Finally, in one last act, you matter. You matter to a whole lot of people. And they can't do anything about it. By killing yourself, you've made sure you keep that importance.

You can't be touched, you can't be harmed, and you can't be demeaned.

There was a time I could have been one of those people. Without my family, I would have been. I wouldn't have killed others, but I did have my suicide note written in my mind. I was in high school at the time (graduated in 1989, so it's been a long while, and life is much better now).

I wish I didn't understand it, I really do. But I can easily see how I could have been the shooter in most any of these stories, with just a slight change in circumstances (born later, less supportive family, etc).

Make no mistake: I totally abhor what these people do. It is vile at best, and pure selfish evil at worst. I just offer something of an explanation.

[CaroPhoenix]

I was stunned when I heard about the Westroads Mall shooting. My mom told me while we were talking on the phone together, it popped up as a news story out here in the DC Metro Area.

Brought back memories for me. It was a treat for my family to go to the Mall back in the early 80's when my Dad was stationed at Offutt AFB. On Sundays, there was a live radio show that was done at the mall. (At least I think it was Sundays, I know it was a weekend). I used to hang out and chat with the DJ's - I though they were awesome!

Ahem .. memories aside, yeah, I hope those wounded recover quickly. I'm praying for those who didn't make it and for all the families involved.