- It has been one year since a man with a rifle opened fire at a West Omaha Target.
- Police shot and killed him before he could hurt anyone, but there are still wounds from that day.
- Reporter Molly Hudson has spent much of the last year investigating the short and long-term impacts of that morning and how it's driving a conversation about mental health care and access.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Neighbor to neighbor, connections made through circumstances no one wants to experience.
"The fact that it happened, you know kind of your worst nightmare," said Larry Derksen, executive director of No Shame Ministries. “I knew he was struggling, I knew we had tried to get help for him.”
One year ago I was sitting in this exact spot, speaking with Larry Derksen, the uncle of Joseph Jones, the man who walked into target with a rifle.
To people in the target at 178th and West Center, he was a threat. To Larry he was Joey.
He says his nephew’s mental health struggles started as a teen and he believes ultimately drove him to this day.
"He was somebody with schizophrenia, who believed that he had to die by suicide or the cartel was going to kill his whole family,” Derksen said.
But that traumatic day on January 31, 2023, would last much longer than 24 hours. Because Omaha Police fired the shot that killed Jones, it required grand jury review.
“I mean seeing somebody beg to be shot and then having to see that happen, it's hard," said Teresa Frank.
Teresa Frank was on the grand jury that watched body cam footage of 13 cases including Larry’s nephew.
"I think I've worked through it and then sometimes it, I just can't get those visions out of my head." Frank said.
She was required to participate despite her daughter working in the store that day.
"I was here, my daughter works there and she had text my husband and I to say there was an active shooter and that they had gotten out okay," Frank said.
She said she told Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine about her daughter.
"He said well, I don't think that is going to sway your decision one way or the other, which I mean it didn't, because what we were there to do was find criminal intent in the 13 cases that we went over,” Frank said.
And from what she saw she felt Joey had no intention of hurting anyone that day.
"You could just feel the hurt coming from him," Frank said.
But what she had to watch while on the jury, lives with her to this day. She says there was no warning for what she might see and no resources to help cope after the experience.
Something she hopes to see change.
"How would you say you are doing today, reporter Molly Hudson asked. "It is 50/50,” Frank said.
But her healing journey began with a familiar face. Emailing Larry to connect.
"I needed to reach out to somebody, and I just didn't know who that was and I thought well that would be the one person because I remember seeing him on the news,” Frank said.
Larry started his own ministry about 4 years ago recognizing his own struggles. No shame ministries provides community groups and resources something Teresa hopes to be a part of.
"Basically you go to a psychiatrist or a counselor, it's one hour a week, and then you have 177 hours until you see them again and your worst moments aren't that one hour, but when you have a support community then you have someone you can call around the clock," Derksen said.
And in the year since the incident at Target he’s be working in the mental health space.
"We've multiplied since what happened in January, we went from 2 support groups to 5, we are in conversation with many more,” Derksen said.
Progress made… but still a long way to go.
"If I didn't have the people surrounding me that I do, I could be another person that is just going down that road,” Frank said. "We've got the knowledge, we've got the people, we just need to come together and work as a community,” Derksen said.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or need someone to talk to. You can dial the suicide and crisis lifeline at 9-8-8.
For more information about no shame ministries support groups. Visit their website by clicking here.
