Omaha target shooting: Who was Joseph Jones? Why the suspect shot and killed by officer Brian Vanderheiden? Explained

According to police, the guy who was fatally shot by officers when he entered a Target store in Omaha, Nebraska, carrying an AR-15-style rifle, had only acquired the weapon four days earlier at a Cabela’s sporting goods store. Let’s see about Omaha target shooting in detail.

 

Who was Joseph Jones?

According to court records, Joseph Jones, 32, a resident of suburban Omaha, who was recognized by police, had never been convicted of a felony in Douglas County, where Omaha is located. Moreover, records indicate that he had never before had any interactions with the local police.

The AR-15-style gun used by Joseph Jones, who was fatally shot by police after he entered a Target store in Omaha, Nebraska, was purchased only four days previously at a Cabela’s sporting goods store, according to authorities. Nobody else was harmed.

Police posted a picture of the AR-15-style weapon that was used in the shooting at the Target in Omaha.

(Omaha Police Dept.)

Larry Derksen Jr., Jones’ uncle, claimed that his nephew had schizophrenia and that his mental illness had made him feel isolated.

Derksen told KETV-TV,

“My nephew went into Target. I believe he had no intention of hurting anybody. He fired off a bunch of rounds,”

“He had an AR-15 before law enforcement got there. If he had any intention of killing anybody, he would have. He would have had time to do so.”

Most people with mental illness are not violent, according to mental health specialists. They are much more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators, and accessibility to firearms is a significant contributing factor to the issue.

According to Derksen, “this was predictable” and his nephew shouldn’t have ever had a gun.

 

Omaha target shooting:

Joseph Jones allegedly fired six shots inside the store after entering it around noon on Tuesday, sending customers and employees fleeing and hiding in restroom stalls. He also carried 13 filled rifle magazines with him in addition to the gun.

A Nebraska State Trooper and two Omaha police officers responded immediately to the approximately 30 calls for assistance that were flooded into the 911 dispatch center. They approached Jones right away and told him to put down the gun.

According to investigators, police veteran Officer Brian Vanderheiden fired a shot at Jones, killing him. According to the release, Vanderheiden was put on paid administrative leave under departmental rules. Lt. Neal Bonacci of Omaha police said they are working on a timeline that would demonstrate how long Jones was in the store before police arrived.

Police say that after the shooting, officers searched the store three times before declaring it safe. Officers discovered gunshot casings inside the shop during their investigation.

 

Other Shooting Cases:

One woman was hurt in a shooting at a Walmart in Evansville, Indiana, in January. Police claimed that if not for the brave acts of a police officer and an employee, it could have been a lot worse. Within minutes, police arrived and shot the shooter dead. In November, a Walmart manager in Chesapeake, Virginia, shot wildly inside a break room, killing six people. There were six more injuries.

Before the police came, the shooter shot and killed himself. An 18-year-old Buffalo, New York, resident who was seeking at a grocery shop in a neighborhood with a high concentration of Black people ended up shooting 10 people to death and injuring three more. It was instantly designated a hate crime by authorities. In December 2007, a 19-year-old gunman killed eight people and himself in a shooting at an Omaha Von Maur department store. That massacre occurred just over 15 years before the attack in Omaha.

 

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