Omaha Police Kill Armed Shooter In Target Store; Second Armed Shooter Fatality In 14 Hours

     Omaha police Tuesday afternoon shot and killed an armed suspect who had fired multiple shots inside a Target store. The name of the dead man has not been released.

      It was the second time in less than 14 hours that Omaha police killed an armed suspect, but unlike the first at a storage facility in which two officers were wounded, no one but the shooter was hurt in the second incident

      Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer says a white man in his 30s entered the Target store shortly before noon with an AR-15-style rifle and “plenty of ammunition,” then began firing multiple shots at unknown targets.

      Panicked shoppers and employees scrambled for safety and called 911. Chief Schmaderer says the first officers arrived on the scene within minutes, confronted the gunman, and “shot him dead.” 

     Officers then searched the store several times looking for victims and individuals who were hiding. 

       Federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives happened to be nearby and helped get victims to safety. 

      ATF spokesman John Ham says the agency is tracing the assault rifle to determine where it came from, whether it was acquired legally. and whether it has been used in other crimes.

       Target spokesperson Brian Harper-Tibaldo said in a statement that all shoppers and employees were safely evacuated from the store, which will remain closed indefinitely.

     Survivors described people running in panic and hiding as several Target employees texted each other with alarms and updates. 

      A 21-year old employee who’d just started her break and was in the front restroom when she heard the shots said she hid in a bathroom stall and lifted her feet off the ground so they wouldn’t be seen.

     She said she was scared that “this is how I might die at work” and began texting her family and friends to say she loved them.

State law requires a grand jury to be called to investigate whether police were justified in using deadly force anytime an individual dies in custody or while being arrested.