Teen gunman had tried to kill himself

The 19-year-old gunman who fatally shot eight people in an Omaha mall this month tried to kill himself two years ago by swallowing about 30 pills, court records show.

Months later, Robert Hawkins left state care, with his father saying the boy would “have to stand or fall on his own.”

A judge released case worker reports, a psychological evaluation and a letter to the court from Hawkins’ father, Ron Hawkins. The judge also released 11 transcripts of Hawkins’ previous court proceedings, adding detail to his troubled teen years.

In one report, Hawkins, who had been in and out of the juvenile justice system since he was 14, told a social worker that he was feeling overwhelmed by court hearings and school.

He told the social worker, Angela Pick, that he wanted to die when he swallowed about 30 Tylenol pills in January 2006.