Omaha Shooter Had a History of Depression
Robert Hawkins, the 20-year-old man who killed eight people and himself at an Omaha shopping mall, had a history of depression, according to an Associated Press report.
Debora Maruca-Kovac, whose family had taken Hawkins in after his family kicked him out, told an Associated Press reporter that Hawkins' girlfriend had broken up with him about two weeks prior to the shootings and he had recently been fired from his job at a neighborhood McDonald's restaurant.
"He was depressed, and he had always been depressed," Maruca-Kovac said. "But he looked like he was getting better."
Hawkins had been treated in the past for depression and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but was not on any medication at the time of the shootings, according to Maruca-Kovac.
Earlier in the day, when she was getting ready for work, Maruca-Kovac said that Hawkins called her to tell her he had left a note in his bedroom. The note turned out to be a suicide letter and a will.
In the note, Hawkins said "how sorry he was for everything", that he loved his family and said he wasn't "going to be a burden anymore." The note also said he was "going out in style" and that he would be famous.
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I live in the Omaha area and I do know it was a very tragic and sad day. My daughter and I prayed for the victims but we also prayed for Robert. We know how it feels to suffer from depression and sadness.
Hawkins had taken Ritalin and Zoloft in the past and friends said he was on antidepressants at the time of the killing.
‘’Rodriguez said her son’s life had been a challenge from the start. She divorced Hawkins’ father when the boy was 3-years-old, she said, and by 5 he was taking prescription Ritalin and Zoloft. She said she watched, feeling helpless the way a parent can, as raw anger took root inside her son. ‘
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3994022&page=1