The 19-year-old responsible for a shooting spree that left eight people dead in a Nebraska mall had been in and out of treatment centres, group homes, and foster care for years. Robert Hawkins had also threatened to kill his stepmother five years ago.

But officials decide to release him from treatment a few months before his 19th birthday, when the law would set him free anway.

On Wednesday, Hawkins is believed to have smuggled the assault rifle into the complex underneath his clothes.

Hawkins fatally shot eight people and died from what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday. Five others were injured, with two of them remaining in critical condition.

Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren told a news conference on Thursday that surveillance video revealed the young man "appeared to be concealing something balled up in a hooded sweat shirt."

It is also reported that Hawkins had a criminal record and had recently been kicked out of his parents' home.

Warren said the victims appeared to have been targeted at random, but would not give a motive for the attack.

The dead include six store employees and two customers. The customers have been identified as:

  • Gary Scharf, 48 of Lincoln, Neb.;
  • John McDonald, 65, of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The employees killed, all from Omaha, were:

  • Angie Schuster, 36;
  • Maggie Webb, 24;
  • Janet Jorgensen, 66;
  • Diane Trent, 53;
  • Gary Joy, 56,
  • Beverly Flynn, 47.

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman provided little information about Hawkins during the press conference, but said investigators are reviewing his files.

"He had law violations, parental rights were intact and no other children in that family were in state custody," he said.

Heinman concluded his comments by thanking all Nebraskans for "coming together in this dark hour."

"I believe that pulling together to help one another is what we do best as Nebraskans."

'Lost puppy'

Meanwhile, people who knew Hawkins are revealing some troubling details about his life.

Debora Maruca-Kovac, who owns the home where Hawkins lived, said he was like a "lost puppy that nobody wanted," The Associated Press reports.

She said Hawkins was fired from his job at a fast-food restaurant this week and had recently broken up with his girlfriend.

Maruca-Kovac told AP that she and her husband took Hawkins into their home after he was kicked out of his parents' house.

"When he first came in the house, he was introverted, a troubled young man who was like a lost pound puppy that nobody wanted," Maruca-Kovac told AP.

She also told a local newspaper, the Omaha World-Herald, that the evening before the mall shooting Hawkins and her sons showed her an SKS semiautomatic Russian military rifle -- the same type used in the shooting.

She told the paper she thought the gun belonged to someone from Hawkins' family and didn't think much of it at the time, believing the weapon was too old to work.

Local records show Hawkins had a felony drug conviction on his record as well as several misdemeanor cases filed against him. One of them was related to an arrest 11 days before the shooting for underage possession of alcohol.

Maruca-Kovac also said Hawkins called her Wednesday afternoon to say he had left a note. He wouldn't explain further, only saying "It's too late," before hanging up, she told CNN.

The note was turned over to authorities. In it, Hawkins wrote that he was "sorry for everything" and would no longer be a burden to his family.

He also wrote "Now I'll be famous."

Hawkins, who was a high-school senior, dropped out of Papillion-La Vista High School in March 2006, principal James Glover said Thursday.

Glover said the teen had a small group of friends and was not a loner; however, Hawkins didn't participate in extracurricular activities.

"It was never a situation where he was out of the loop because people were picking on him,'' Glover said.

CNN's Sean Callebs said people in the area are still reeling.

"People want to know how was he able to go in this store and make his way to the third floor with an SKS assault rifle and apparently go undetected," Callebs told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday, reporting from the scene.

"Apparently he was firing from that third floor. He turned it one way back to a service area and a lot of the victims were back in that area. He also shot people on the second level. People were just scattering, doing whatever they could."

Eyewitness account

A witness told CNN that he was in the Westroads Mall when he heard people screaming and running towards exits.

Shawn Vidlak said he and his family were in the mall when he saw a rushing crowd heading towards them. People were frantic and yelling out warnings.

They were screaming to "grab your families. Get out of there. Someone's shooting," Vidlak said.

He said he then heard a series of four or five popping sounds. Vidlak quickly grabbed his wife, picked up his four-year-old daughter, and ran outside.

But not everyone got out. Some hid in clothing racks and dressing rooms when they heard the shots.

Witnesses described hearing round after round of gun shots. There are reports that at least 30 to 40 shots were fired.

By the time police arrived they weren't sure how many shooters they were dealing with. They surrounded the mall, and once they were set up, shoppers and employees had to come out with their hands raised in the air.

Later they said they believed Hawkins, of Bellevue, Neb., was the only shooter.

The gunman is believed to have been found on the third floor of the shopping complex.

U.S. President George Bush was in Omaha delivering a speech Wednesday, but had left the city before the shootings began.

With files from The Associated Press