http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3994022&page=1
Mall Shooter's Mother:
'Dear God, No!'
Maribel Rodriguez Tells Diane Sawyer She Did 'Best' She Could
With
Her Son
By CHRIS FRANCESCANI
Dec. 13, 2007 —
"Dear God, no!"
It was the first, anguished thought that sprung to the mind of
the
mother of the Omaha mall sniper Robert Hawkins when she realized
her
son was the killer.
"Dear God, no!,'' Maribel Rodriguez repeated Thursday morning in
an
exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America"
"No, not him,'' she said, carefully framing her thoughts at that
moment. "He is NOT doing this!'' she said emphatically, then
sighed
deeply.
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.
First there were fights at school, she said. Then he was caught
smoking cigarettes. Then marijuana.
He became a ward of the state in 2002 after apparently
threatening
his stepmother. He was moved through facilities and foster homes
for
several years, until he was released in 2005. Two weeks before
the
shooting rampage, Hawkins parted ways with his girlfriend.
Rodriguez said she sympathizes deeply with the families of her
son's
victims.
"I'm not a dictator, so I can't tell you what to think,''
Rodriguez
said on 'Good Morning America' Thursday. "But as his mother I
loved
him, deeply and without end. If you want to hate Rob, hate
Rob,'' she
continued. "You don't need that type of pain. It destroys your
soul."
She said she, too, feels the enormity of the tragedy.
"It's massive,'' she told Sawyer, her eyes widening. "It's
massive.
It's turmoil. It's confusion. It's&absolute devastation."
Hawkins killed eight people before turning a gun on himself and
committing suicide. Two more of the funerals for his victims
were
conducted Tuesday.
"There were nine worlds shattered," the Rev. Donald Shane told
mourners at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church during a
service
for victim Angie Schuster, according to the Associated Press.
"The
worlds of Beverly Flynn. And Janet Jorgensen. And Gary Joy. And
John
McDonald, my classmate. And Gary Scharf. And Dianne Clavin
Trent. And
Maggie Webb. And our Angie.
"And a tragic, tragic end to the life of Robert Hawkins,'' he
added.
The final funeral was held Wednesday. In a note Hawkins left
behind,
he said that he knows "everyone will remember me as some sort of
monster but please understand that I just don't want to be a
burden
on the ones that I care for my entire life," 19-year-old Robert
Hawkins wrote. "I just want to take a few peices (sic) of
(expletive)
with me."
The rampage was the deadliest mall shooting in U.S. history. "
'Troubled' teen Robert
Hawkins snapped after breakup, losing job
BY TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, December 6th 2007, 2:40 AM
Friends and neighbors say Omaha mall gunman Robert Hawkins was
depressed after losing job and girlfriend. Click on image for
photo gallery.
Omaha mall gunman Robert Hawkins was a depressed, deeply
troubled teen who broke up with his longtime girlfriend two
weeks ago and apparently snapped after losing his job at
McDonald's, friends and neighbors said Wednesday.
The 19-year-old killer's landlady said Hawkins was distraught
when she ran into him yesterday morning, just hours before his
suicidal rampage.
"He said he'd gotten fired and was pretty upset and said, 'This
is the only way,' and we tried to talk to him," surgical nurse
Debora Maruca-Kovac said.
She said she knew that Hawkins, a friend of her son's who was
crashing at her house, was "very troubled" and that she had seen
him with a gun the night before.
During the afternoon, Maruca-Kovac began seeing victims of the
mall shooting being brought in to the hospital where she works.
By then, she had already read a suicide note that Hawkins had
left behind. "I had a feeling it could be him," she said.
In the note, she recalled Hawkins said "how sorry he was for
everything."
He wrote that he loved his mom and dad and other family members,
and said he wasn't "going to be a burden anymore."
At the top of the note was his "will," which said that his green
Jeep Cherokee was to go to his mother, and that "my friends can
have whatever they want."
He ended the message saying he would be famous now.
Maruca-Kovac said she and her husband let Hawkins stay with them
after he was kicked out of his family's house, but he would not
say why his family had kicked him out.
"He was like a lost pound puppy that nobody wanted," she said.
"I felt sorry for him."
A high school dropout, Hawkins came from Bellevue, Neb., but was
staying in Quail Creek outside Omaha.
He had been taking anti-depressants, but his problems only
seemed to be getting worse, a buddy named Shawn said.
He had shuttled from one lousy job to another and started making
"some bad judgment calls," the pal said.
He had been arrested in recent weeks on charges of having an
open container of alcohol and delinquency and was due back in
court in two weeks.
tconnor@nydailynews.com
With News Wire Services
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
CNN News video: Omaha Mall
Shootings
Hawkins friend tells CNN reporter that Hawkins had been
depressed and on antidepressants for the last couple of months.
Friend reports that he was shocked..... as Hawkins was a lot
like him... He states he just couldn't believe that Hawkins
would ever do something like this...
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/250.1/popup/index.php?cl=5340923
State Spent $265K On Hawkins'
Care
Mall Shooter Was State Ward For 4 Years
POSTED: 3:33 pm CST December 6, 2007
UPDATED: 6:11 pm CST December 6, 2007
OMAHA, Neb. -- Nebraska spent $265,000 and four years trying to
provide help to the 19-year-old who became the Westroads Mall
shooter
on Wednesday afternoon.
Eight people were killed, in addition to the shooter, Robert A.
Hawkins.
Gov. Dave Heineman said Hawkins became a ward of the state on
Sept.
17, 2002, but parental rights were not terminated and none of
his
siblings were state wards. Hawkins was terminated as a state
ward on
Aug. 24, 2006.
http://www.ketv.com/news/14792807/detail.html
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Omaha Shooter Robert Hawkins Had Been "Treated" For ADHD, Depression
Original story at: http://www.newstarget.com/022330.html
NewsTarget) America seems shocked that, yet again, a young
male would pick up an assault rifle and murder his fellow
citizens, then take his own life. This is what happened last
night in Omaha, Nebraska, where the 19-year-old Hawkins killed
himself and eight other people with an assault rifle. Those
lacking keen observation skills are quick to blame guns for this
tragedy, but others who are familiar with the history of such
violent acts by young males instantly recognize a more sinister
connection: A history of treatment with psychiatric drugs for
depression and ADHD.
It all started in Columbine, Colorado, when Eric Harris and
Dylan Klebold massacred their way into the history books on
April 20, 1999 by killing 12 and wounding 23 people. The
mainstream media virtually glorified the event, yet utterly
failed to report the connection between violence in young men
and treatment with psychiatric drugs. (Both Harris and Klebold
were taking antidepressant drugs.)
It's a little known fact that antidepressant drugs have never
been tested on children nor approved by the FDA for use on
children. It is well established in the scientific
literature, however, that such drugs cause young men to think
violent thoughts and commit violent acts. This is precisely why
the U.K. has outright banned the prescribing of such drugs to
children. Yet here in the United States -- the capitol of gun
violence by kids on depression drugs -- the FDA and drug
companies pretend that mind-altering drugs have no link
whatsoever to behavior.
Enormous evidence linking mind-altering drugs with violent acts
In 2005, I reported on this site
that Eli Lilly had full knowledge of a 1200% increase in suicide
risk for takers of their Prozac drug, a popular anti-depressant
SSRI medication. (See
http://www.newstarget.com/003086.html )
In 2006, we reported the results of a study published in the
Archives of General Psychiatry showing that teens taking
antidepressant drugs are more likely to commit suicide (and to
be "successful" at completing the act). See
http://www.newstarget.com/020643.html
On September 11, 2006, I reported on the link between
antidepressant drugs and violent behavior yet again. (See
http://www.newstarget.com/020394.html ) In that
article, I explained, "If you're going to alter the brain
chemistry of these children, you had better be prepared for the
results. The result we're seeing now is mass killings. Elsewhere
around the world, where children aren't doped up on all these
drugs, we don't see this kind of behavior. This is what happens
when you change children's brain chemistry; you get these
results..."
The very next day, we published a report about the
anti-depressant drug Paxil doubling the risk of
violent behavior. (See
http://www.newstarget.com/020406.html ) In that
article, I stated, "This finding helps explain why school
shootings are almost always conducted by children who are taking
antidepressants. We also know that SSRIs cause children to
disconnect from reality. When you combine that with a propensity
for violence, you create a dangerous recipe for school shootings
and other adolescent violence.
In April of this year, I also reported on the link between
antid! epressan t drugs and the Virginia Tech shooting. See
http://www.newstarget.com/021798.html
What I said in that article has urgent application right now,
following the Omaha shooting:
A study published in the Public Library of Science Medicine
(an open source medical journal) explored these same links in
detail. (See
Antidepressants and Violence:
Problems at the Interface of Medicine and Law, by David Healy,
Andrew Herxheimer, David B. Menkes)
The authors note that "Some regulators, such as the Canadian
regulators, have also referred to risks of treatment-induced
activation leading to both self-harm and harm to others" and the
"United States labels for all antidepressants as of August 2004
note that 'anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia,
irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia
(psychomotor restlessness), hypomania, and mania have been
reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with
antidepressants for major depressive disorder as well as for
other indications, both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric'".
In other words, the link between antidepressants and
violence has been known for years by the very people
manufacturing, marketing or prescribing the drugs. As the
author of the study mentioned above concluded, "The new issues
highlighted by these cases need urgent examination jointly by
jurists and psychiatrists in all countries where antidepressants
are widely used."
That was last year, well before this latest shooting. The
warning signs were there, and they've been visible for a long
time. Medical authorities can hardly say they are "shocked" by
this violent behavior. After all, the same pattern of violence
among antidepressant takers has been observed, documented and
published in ! numerous previous cases.
|
|
Not surprised at what happened in Omaha
The people of Omaha may be
surprised at what happened there yesterday, but I'm not.
Why? Because the shooter, Robert Hawkins, had a history of being
"treated" for both depression and ADHD (Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder). (Source: Associated Press)
And what is the standard American psychiatric "treatment" for
these conditions? Mind-altering drugs, of course.
ADHD, for example, is treated with a drug that used to be an
illegal street drug called "speed." It's an amphetamine, and
recent research published in the August, 2007 issue of the
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reveals
that Ritalin and other ADHD drugs actually stunt the growth of
children, causing their brains and bodies to be physically
altered. (See
http://www.newstarget.com/021944.html )
Depression, of course, is treated with SSRI drugs, none of which
have ever been safety approved by the FDA for use on children or
teens. In other words, the use of these drugs on teenagers is
a grand, mind-altering medical experiment, and what we just
witnessed in Omaha is one result of that experiment.
There will be more. I hate to be accurate about this grisly
prediction, because I grieve for the families of those lost to
pharmaceutically-induced violence, but the truth is
that until we stop drugging our children with psychotropic
drugs, the shootings are not going to stop.
Big Pharma is to blame for this one, not the manufacturer of the
gun. That gun has a trigger, you see, and the trigger was pulled
by a finger. The finger was connected via a series of nerves to
a brain, and that brain was altered by psychotropic drugs.
The brain wasn't functioning like a normal, healthy,
well-nourished brain; it was functioning like a zoned out
"zombie" brain permanently distorted by psychiatric drugs.
Sending a teenager out into the public doped up on mind-alte!
ring dru gs that we KNOW are linked to violence -- and jacked up
on junk foods (he worked at McDonald's) -- is a certain recipe
for disaster. Big Pharma executives, drug reps and the
irresponsible psychiatrists who dish these pills out to
teenagers might as well have just walked right into the mall and
set off a bomb themselves. These are the people ultimately
responsible for the tragedy in Omaha. Hawkins may have pulled
the trigger, but modern psychiatry drugged him with
violence-inducing chemicals. The fact that such drugs promote
violence isn't even disputed. It's printed right on the
warning labels of those drugs!
And as sad as this tragedy is for all those affected by this
medication-induced violence, the truly sad part is that
America still hasn't learned this lesson. If you drug the
children with chemicals that cause violence, you're going to see
more shootings. It's as simple as that. And if you take away the
guns, you'll see bombs, knives or machetes used in these
attacks. When disturbed young boys are doped up on psychotropic
drugs that promote violence -- and they're drugged by the
hundreds of thousands -- it's like playing a national game of
Russian roulette (with apologies to Russia). Sooner or later,
another kid whose mind has been altered by Ritalin, Prozac or
some other drug is going to walk into yet another school or mall
and start killing people. This kind of behavior is a direct
product of chemical-based psychiatric "treatment."
The criminals running modern psychiatry
In fact, I predict we'll see
another such shooting in the next 30 days, if not sooner. And
yet, even with the increasing frequency of these events, the
unholy alliance between Big Pharma and the immensely evil
psychiatric industry will continue. Yet more children will be
put on mind-altering drugs that stunt their growth, alter their
brain chemistry, and turn them into mind-numbed massacre drones
who acquire dangerous weapons and open fire in public places.
The psychiatric industry, though, thinks that yet MORE children
need "treatment" with drugs for ADHD and depression. In fact, an
industry press release recently claimed that only one-third of
those children "suffering" from ADHD are receiving appropriate
"treatment" for the condition. Of course, those are just code
words for "drugging the children with high-profit
pharmaceuticals." When the psychiatric authorities say
"treatment," what they mean is "more drugging."
Want to learn the horrifying, yet true, history of modern
psychiatry? Check out
www.CCHR.org - the
Citizens' Commission on Human Rights. They have a documentary so
downright shocking that I couldn't even finish watching the
whole thing. It's called
Psychiatry: An Industry of Death.
Also be sure to check out the shocking book by Kelly Patricia
O'Meara called
Psyched Out: How Psychiatry Sells
Mental Illness and Pushes Pills That Kill. This book
explains exactly why kids li! ke Rober t Hawkins who have been
treated with psychiatric drugs end up shooting innocents.
What could have healed Robert Hawkins and saved lives
So what's the solution to all this? Robert Hawkins could have
been healed with a radical change in diet that supports healthy
brain chemistry. His parents or caretakers should have stopped
the junk food, ended the medication and put him on raw, living
foods and daily superfood smoothies, fresh vegetable juices, raw
nuts and seeds and other wholesome, non-processed foods.
Nutrition is the single most powerful factor determining healthy
moods and behavior, and virtually all young men who commit
violent acts (including the vast majority of those imprisoned in
the U.S. today) suffer from wild nutritional deficiencies.
Robert Hawkins could have been a healthy, stable and normal kid
with the help of some real food, real nutrition and real love
from a supporting family. Instead, he lived on junk food, worked
at McDonald's and took medication pills as directed by his
psychiatric doctor. The results speak for themselves: This
recipe of processed food and mind-altering drugs created a
monster, and yesterday in Omaha, that monster exploded in a rage
of violence.
If we don't learn from all this and stop drugging our nation's
children, then those innocents in Omaha will have died in vain.
And I ask the question: How many more innocent Americans must
pay the price for medication-induced violence?
Ask yourself one question: Why does the FDA continue to allow
these dangerous drugs to be prescribed to children and teens
when 1) They have never been tested on children or teens, and 2)
Other countries have already banned the prescribing of these
drugs to children and teens?
Story Notes: The Associated Press originally reported Hawkins'
age as 20 years old, but corrected it to 19 years old following
a correction by local police. Hawkins was not reported to have
been taking medications at the precise time of the shooting, but
his caretaker, Debora Maruca-Kovac, said that "he had been
treated in the past for depression and attention
deficit/hyperactivity disorder." We do not know! exactly which
drugs Hawkins had been treated with in the past, and we hope the
names of those drugs will surface in future reports on this
tragedy.
NewsTarget deeply regrets the loss of life witnessed in this
event, and we commit to doing our part to end these
medication-induced crimes that continue to be perpetrated
by Big Pharma and modern psychiatry. You have permission to
forward or reprint this article, with appropriate credit and a
link back to this URL:
http://www.newstarget.com/022330.html
Please protect our children from Big Pharma!
- Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Consumer health advocate
Editor, www.NewsTarget.com
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