Potential Mass Shooting Averted at Omaha Target When Cops Shoot Dead Gunman Wielding AR-15

Nebraska police shot dead a man who opened fire with an AR-15 rifle in an Omaha Target store on Tuesday.

Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer did not identify the gunman but said he was a white man in his 30s and carried “plenty of ammunition” when he walked through one of the store’s front doors and fired at least six rounds, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Schmadere said it wasn’t clear if he was targeting anyone, and multiple searches of the interior of the store turned up no customers or employees who were hurt.

One of the first officers to arrive on the scene shot and killed him, the chief said.

Police were called to the store in west Omaha just before noon and found shoppers and employees rushing out of the store.

A woman who was in the toy department told the World-Herald that she and about a dozen other shoppers and employees ran out the back door.

“I heard three shots,” she said. “Everyone was in a panic. We all ran out of the store.”

Kaley Schlueter told the newspaper she had a harrowing 35 minute wait after her sister, Elianne Robinson — an employee in the shoe department — texted her just after noon.

“She said, ‘I love you. There’s a shooting in my Target. I’m in the fitting room. He shot so much, I don’t know if he’s killed anyone,’ ” Schlueter said.

Ten minutes later, Robinson sent a video Snapchat.

“She just was saying, ‘I love you, I’m sorry,’ ” said Schlueter, who told the newspaper she heard gunshots in the background.

Finally, Robinson sent another text just before 12:40 p.m. “I’m with the cops,” she messaged. “They got it.”

Police said any witnesses should call 402-444-4877 to talk to detectives and said investigators would be on scene into the night.

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[Featured image: AP Photo/Josh Funk]