OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The Omaha Police Department released its timeline of events detailing how the Target store shooting happened from the perspective of law enforcement.
On Tuesday, 32-year-old Joseph Jones fired several rounds in a Super Target near West Center Road with a rifle that police say he bought at Cabela's four days prior.
Here's a timeline of events, according to Omaha Police:
11:49 a.m. - Suspect arrives at Target in a personal vehicle.
11:56 a.m. - Suspect removes a cardboard shipping box from his vehicle and walks into the southeast grocery entrance wearing a dark-colored coat and hat.
11:57 a.m. - Suspect walks to the pharmacy area. A shipping box was later found in this area.
11:58 a.m. - Suspect points the rifle at a Target employee. He then points the rifle in the air firing one round. Walks toward the front of the store and fires another two rounds.
11:59 a.m. - Suspect takes off his coat. He fires the rifle toward the self-checkout. He then fires at a drink cooler.
11:59 a.m. - Douglas County 911 receives the first 911 call to 17810 West Center Road for a “shooting”.
11:59 a.m. - First police unit is assigned the 911 call.
12:00 p.m. - Suspect enters the grocery entrance vestibule and fires multiple rounds inside the vestibule.
12:02 p.m. - Suspect briefly exits the store and then re-enters. He fires another round.
12:04 p.m. - Suspect walks west through the store still holding the rifle.
12:05 p.m. - Officer Brian Vanderheiden and a Nebraska State Trooper immediately enter the southwest GM entrance.
12:05 p.m. - Vanderheiden and NSP Trooper make contact with the suspect who is still holding the rifle.
12:06 p.m. - Suspect is shot by Vanderheiden.
Police say that Vanderheiden and the NSP Trooper gave Jones over 20 loud verbal commands to drop the rifle.
Jones said, “Come on!” three times during the verbal commands while refusing to drop the rifle. Jones then said, “I’ll kill you!”. Vanderheiden then fired one round from his service handgun striking Jones and killing him.
This entire interaction lasted approximately 15 seconds, according to police. Other responding law enforcement had arrived and a search for additional suspects and possible victims began throughout the store.
READ MORE: UPDATE: Target suspect identified, purchased rifle 4 days prior to shooting
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