New details are coming out about the 17-year-old high school senior who shot his principal and vice-principal yesterday in Omaha.
A number of red flags apparently point to trouble brewing in Robert Butler, Jr.'s life, beginning with his transfer to a large city high school. He had recently moved in with his father, an Omaha police officer, after living for years with his mother, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Butler was unhappy with the move and struggled to find a place in his new school.
A screenshot of Butler's Facebook post.
A sequence of events yesterday morning led to the shooting. Butler was pulled from his classes and sent to Vice-Principal Vicki Kaspar. She suspended him because school security cameras showed him driving across the football field. The teen was escorted off school grounds, then he came back around 1pm, according to police. The Omaha World-Herald reports the troubled teen walked right past a security guard carrying his father's handgun. He went straight to the administrative office where he opened fire, killing Kaspar and wounding Principal Curtis Case.
Butler fired two wild shots in the hallway and then drove off. Police found him dead a short time later of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Shortly before the shooting, the teenager typed a rambling post on Facebook that may shed some light on his internal struggles, says KMTV in Omaha.
Everybody that used (sic) to me. I'm sorry but Omaha changed me and f****ed me up and the school I know (sic) attend is even worse. Ur gonna hear about the evil s***t I did but that f****ing school drove me to this. I want you guys to remember me for who I was before this. I know I greatly affected the lives of the families I ruined but I'm sorry. Goodbye.
School officials say Butler was becoming easily distracted and unfocused, often goofing off in class. However, friends say he was in high spirits and happy. Most were shocked when they heard what happened.
What a tragic story. It seems a couple tribute pages have popped up on Facebook for him now, a twitter memorial, and a hate page to boot. I’d be interested in hearing the back story – what led to this. Surely there has to be more than just a school transfer.