Store video captures Neb. mall shooter

OMAHA, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A security guard was watching on a surveillance camera as a teenage gunman cased an Omaha department store and later opened fire on unsuspecting customers.

Omaha police Friday released security camera images of 19-year-old Robert Hawkins taken during and just before he carried out the killings of two shoppers and six store employees at the Westroad Mall.

The Omaha World-Herald said Hawkins caught the eye of a store security officer operating the surveillance camera as soon as he walked in because the guard thought he was a potential shoplifter. Hawkins then left the store and came back a few minutes later with an assault rifle.

The newspaper said one of the three striking pictures released showed Hawkins standing next to store mannequins and taking aim with his weapon seconds before he opened fire.