In the midst of the holiday rush on December 5, 2007, Beverly J. Vasholz Flynn, a 47-year-old female, was working at the Von Maur department store in Omaha, Nebraska. Known for her warmth and personal touches, such as planting a rose bush in the yard of new homeowners she had helped as a real estate agent, Beverly was also wrapping gifts for shoppers at the mall.
Her day, however, was destined for a tragic and violent end, caught in an event that would become the deadliest mass murder in Nebraska since 1958.
The festive atmosphere of the Westroads Mall was shattered that afternoon by 19-year-old Robert Hawkins. He stepped out of an elevator on the third floor of the Von Maur and began firing a semi-automatic rifle. The ensuing chaos sent shoppers and employees scrambling for cover. Beverly Flynn was one of the eight people fatally wounded during the rampage. She was shot in the chest and, despite efforts to resuscitate her at Creighton University Medical Center, she succumbed to her injuries.
The perpetrator of this senseless act of violence was Robert Hawkins, a troubled young man with a history of mental health issues. Before the shooting, he had been fired from his job and had recently broken up with his girlfriend. He left behind a suicide note expressing his frustrations and a desire to become famous. After his deadly assault on innocent shoppers and employees, Hawkins took his own life at the scene. Consequently, there was no arrest made in the case, as the sole suspect was deceased. The incident left the community of Omaha in mourning and added another tragic chapter to the history of gun violence in the United States.
