Omaha's police chief says it lasted "a very few minutes." But when a shooting rampage at a busy mall was over, nine people were dead and five others wounded.

Police say 20-year-old Robert Hawkins was found dead on the third floor of the mall. Witnesses say he was perched on a balcony, picking off victims on the mall's second and third levels.

Chief Thomas Warren says the dead included five females and four
males, one of which was the shooter. Police have recovered the
murder weapon, a rifle.

Hawkins is described as having had a troubled life. He had lived more than a year with a friend's family after being kicked out of his home.

The woman who owns the home where he lived said he had
recently been fired and broken up with his girlfriend.

Debora Maruca-Kovac says Hawkins wrote in a suicide note that he
was "sorry for everything" but also noted that "now I'll be famous."