Yesterday, 45 minutes after President Bush left town, a 19 year old boy shot 13 unsuspecting people, killed 8, injured 5 and then killed himself at Von Maur. Von Maur comparable to Lord and Taylor, or Neiman Marcus (maybe) is located at Westroads Mall not too far from where I live, I take my daughter there to play and do a lot of my shopping there. At first it seemed like it was just a single incident, a jealous lover or maybe some sort of gang retaliation thing; shootings aren’t that uncommon here in Omaha. But as the news spread and the live footage showed how huge the police response was it became clear it was something more. At first they said 5 people are injured, and they took them off to the hospital, sad, but not too bad, they were alive.

For some reason I didn’t think that there were 7 already dead in the store; it just didn’t register. When the Omaha Police Dept. announced that there were 9 dead, I thought the woman misspoke. But only 5 were injured, then it occurred to me, wow, fricken unbelievable!!! Then as more information came out he was up on the third floor, the children’s section, a section I take my daughter for her fancy dresses for various holidays and occasions… unreal!

They haven’t released any names but I can’t help but wonder if I know one of the victims or if any of the victims are children. Omaha is a decent sized city, but there is only about 2 or 3 degrees of separation here. I called my family and my closest friends and they were all ok. One of my close friends was at the mall yesterday with her 2 little one’s and her mother and father but at the time were having lunch at a restaurant near the mall when it happened.

9 is not just a number, its 8 people that won’t be going home to their families, because 1 kid decided to go out in “STYLE”. I’m torn because I hate that the media shows so much on TV, putting ideas into unstable people’s heads, but at the same time, I can’t stop watching, or listening to the radio.

This has happened in various degrees across the US ( I didn’t live too far from Columbine High School), and yes it’s different when it happens close to home and could involve someone you know. I keep hearing “I can’t believe this happened in Omaha, NE like we are immune to such things. I’m shocked yes, but not surprised. Everyday we hear about multiple shootings around the city, mostly done by kids sometimes as young as 13 or 14.

Anyways, I know we get wrapped up in our lives, and feel miserable because things don’t go the way we want; people annoy us, etc. etc. It’s sad that it takes such events to make us realize that things are not so bad and that in fact we are very lucky and fortunate.

My heart goes out to those involved in this senseless act. I may write more as facts are released and my head stops spinning.