Eight killed in US gun rampage
The shootings took place in the city of Omaha in the central US state of Nebraska
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Thursday, 06, Dec 2007 02:09
A teenaged gunman has killed eight people and injured five others at a shopping mall in the city of Omaha, Nebraska, in the US.
The 19-year-old gunman then committed suicide by shooting himself in a department store in the city's Westroads Mall, where he opened fire with an assault rifle.
Survivors described a scene of panic inside the shopping centre as they heard the sound of gunshots. Witnesses said they ran for cover as the gunman opened fire and sought refuge in changing rooms and toilets in the store.
Police said they had recovered a suicide note and identified the gunman as local resident Robert Hawkins. Law enforcement authorities added that five women and three males had been killed in the rampage. Details of the state of those injured are yet to be released.
Local television channels have reported the gunman suffered from depression and had recently lost his job at a fast food restaurant.
US president George Bush, who was on a visit to the city earlier in the day, said he was "deeply saddened" on hearing the news and expressed his condolences to the victims of the shooting.
There are frequent calls for tighter restrictions on the ownership of guns in the country, where such events have occurred in the past.
Earlier this year, a student at Virginia Tech university shot dead 32 others before turning the gun on himself. Last October, a man also shot himself after killing five schoolgirls in the state of Pennsylvania.