Omaha, Neb., seems an unlikely place for the madness of a shopping mall massacre. That Heartland metropolis is in an especially conservative state that rarely gets in the news for such a human tragedy on a grand scale.

But as details unfold about the gunman, Robert A. Hawkins, 19, who fatally wounded eight and then took his own life Tuesday at an Omaha shopping mall, it appears here was a deeply troubled young man who sorely needed mental treatment. It appears many knew about his anger and personal conflict.

This is kind of terrorism by someone with an Anglo-Saxon name doesnt seem to raise as much alarm. Imagine if the man had been a Muslim. Some of us are old enough to remember 1958 when Charles Starkweather rampaged across Nebraska and Wyoming killing 10 people on his way.

Enough seems to be known about his actions before the shootings to suggest he was not a cold-blooded killer and that he had shared feelings, even masked cries of help that should have alerted someone to intervene. He had broken up with a girlfriend, lost his job at McDonalds, had been kicked out of his parents home and had acquired a criminal record (felony drug conviction and several misdemeanors, most recently an arrest for having alcohol as a minor). He had been fired from the restaurant after being accused of taking $17 from his register.

The suicide note he left behind spoke of love for his family and friends, as well as a sense of being a burden to everyone and that his life had been a waste. His landlady, who found the note, told CBSs Early Show that I was fearful that he was going to commit suicide, but I had no idea that he would involve so many other families. His shooting at the Westroads Mall was random.

When his parents banned him, Debora Maruca-Kovac and her husband took Hawkins in and sought to help him. He was a friend of their sons. When he first came in the house, he was introverted, a trouble young man who was like a lost pound puppy that nobody wanted, she told the Associated Press. The night before the shootings, Hawkins and her sons showed Maruca-Kovac a semiautomatic Russian military rifle, but she said she didnt think much about it.

Hawkins had the compunction to call Maruca-Kovac just before he went on his killing spree to tell her he had left a note. That he let her talk briefly to him is important. Alas, Hawkins went forward with the act and as his note said, Now Ill be famous.Ironically, Maruca-Kovac headed to the Nebraska Medical Center and a job as a nurse and victims of the shooting arrived there. Small world.

In the next few days, more will be learned about Hawkins more warning signs much with what happened early this year regarding gunman Seung-Hui Cho who killed himself and 32 others at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va.

If only..

Mental health intervention and treatment certainly have prevented would-be Omaha tragedies. Families and friends are at the forefront for seeing trouble spots and working to get people the help that will serve to lesson or eliminate anti-social and destructive urges. Employers and colleagues have a place in the process, starting with trying to understand people and the pressures and challenges besetting them.

Roaming our streets are homeless with complicated histories of both self-destructive activity and ill-treatment by others. That they dont ultimately take things out on society like Robert Hawkins is very fortunate. But as a just society, we can do more. They deserve help out of their mental hells.

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