OMAHA, Neb. — Mall gunman Robbie Hawkins had threatened to kill people as long as five years ago and as recently as two weeks ago.
The day after he turned 14, Hawkins was sent to a group home after threatening to kill his stepmother, court records show.
Two weeks ago, he threatened to kill a 16-year-old girl and her family after accusing her of stealing things from his car, the girl said Thursday.
"He said, 'I'm going to kill you, I am going to kill your family and I'm going to burn your house down,' " she said.
The girl, a neighbor, shrugged off the threat.
"I never really thought that he would follow through with something like this," she said.
Interviews and court records from Sarpy and Washington County courts detail the troubled childhood of the 19-year-old responsible for Wednesday's killing spree at Westroads Mall.
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Hawkins was a foster child through Sarpy County Juvenile Court for about four years. Judge Robert O'Neal handled the case.
Hawkins was in the custody of his father, Ronald, in LaVista, when he became a foster child in 2002. Hawkins' parents divorced when he was 3.
Hawkins had been hospitalized twice for psychiatric problems before being admitted on May 18, 2002, to Piney Ridge Center in Waynesville, Mo., for "homicidal threats he made to his stepmother."
Four months later, he was made a state ward because his health insurance would not pay to continue his care. The center's staff said he should not be released.
He stayed at the Missouri facility for at least another month before moving to group homes, including several Cooper Village facilities, and at least one foster home in Omaha.
Marty Glass was Hawkins' foster mother for about a year. Her son, Ben Glass, 31, remembered Hawkins as an average kid who enjoyed video games.
"He was a quiet kid," Ben Glass said. "He wasn't a whole lot of trouble."
Hawkins later was charged in Juvenile Court with third-degree assault in connection with an October 2003 fight at Papillion-La Vista High School and with unlawful tobacco use by a minor at the school in September 2004.
He was ordered to serve 50 hours of community service.
In 2005, Hawkins was charged twice in Washington County with possession with intent to deliver drugs. He also pleaded guilty that year to disorderly conduct and later was arrested for not paying the $100 fine.
After the first drug charge, O'Neal ordered Hawkins to abstain from alcohol and drugs and to complete chemical dependency and mental health treatment through a day-treatment program.
In July 2005, Hawkins' mother, Maribel Rodriguez, sought visits with her son. She had not had contact with him for 2 1/2 years.
In March 2006, Hawkins dropped out of Papillion-La Vista High School.
Soon after Hawkins dropped out, the judge ordered him to work 20 hours a week and get his GED; a friend said he did.
Just after Hawkins' court cases ended last year, he moved in with his friend Will's family in the Quail Creek subdivision in Bellevue, said Will's mother, Debora Maruca.
She said Hawkins had been hopping between friends' homes.
"He was like a lost pound puppy nobody wanted," she said.
