Maryland mall gunman wrote of killing people

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Jose Luis Magana / AP

Kathren Cameron places a teddy bear at the mall after it was reopened to the public, Monday, Jan. 27, 2014, in Columbia, Md.

By Hasani Gittens, News Editor, NBC News

The young man who killed two skate store employees and then shot himself inside a shopping mall wrote about killing people in his journal and said he was ready to die, Maryland police revealed Wednesday.

Howard County police released the details of Darion Aguilar's journal through their Twitter account.

Investigators say the 19-year-old Aguilar killed  Brianna Benlolo, 21, of College Park, Md., and Tyler Johnson, 25, of Mount Airy, Md., in a Zumiez skate store at the Mall in Columbia and then took his own life. Detectives have been trying to determine a motive.

Police now say Aguilar wrote in general terms in his journal about killing people — but did not mention targeting specific people or locations. Police say the journal "expresses a general hatred of others" and a willingness to die.

They said it showed he "knew he was having mental health issues." 

Handout / Reuters

Darion Marcus Aguilar, 19, of College Park, Maryland, identified by police as the gunman in Saturday's Columbia Mall shooting, is seen in an undated photo released by the Howard County Police Department.

He also apologized to his family for what he was planning to do, they said.

Cops on Wednesday also detailed how Aguilar assembled the shotgun before the rampage.

Aguilar carried the disassembled 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun into the mall in a backpack, the Howard County Police Department said on its Twitter feed.

Aguilar, who also lived in College Park, Maryland, put the shotgun together in a dressing room at the Zumiez skateboard store.

Then, police "believe Aguilar exited the Zumiez dressing room, shot the two victims and then himself," they said. Earlier, investigators had said that Aguilar had spent at least an hour in the mall before initiating the spree.

The skate store itself had no video cameras so there is no footage of the shootings, it said. Police have said Aguilar fired six to eight shots.

At one point, he stepped out of the store and wounded a woman who was struck in the foot, police said.

Aguilar was dead when officers arrived less than two minutes after the first 911 call, police said.

Investigators have not given a motive for the shootings. Police have said they have not turned up any relationship between the shop employees and Aguilar.

Police believe Aguilar legally bought the shotgun last month. The attack was the latest in a spate of U.S. shootings that has renewed questions about the vulnerability of public places in the United States.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report

Nevada gunman told patients to flee before killing, 911 tapes reveal

  By Scott Sonner, The Associated PressRENO, Nev. — Newly released 911 tapes paint a scene of panic and terror inside a Reno medical building where dozens of callers hid in bathrooms and exam rooms from a suicidal gunman who killed one doctor and shot another at a urology clinic where he said he'd had a vasectomy that ruined his life. Callers included a woman hiding under a desk in an exam room and another who whispered "Oh, my God" and "he's going to ... kill us" as apparent gunshots can be heard in the background on the tapes released Tuesday. Alan Oliver Frazier, 51, told patients to leave or he'd shoot them after he entered the Urology Nevada office last week and soon began firing a pistol-grip, 12-gauge shotgun. The shooter from Northern California said he was angry because "he had a vasectomy here and they ruined his life," a male witness told a dispatcher from a locked bathroom where he and about 10 others hid. "He says, 'As long as you're a patient, you can leave. Otherwise I'm going to shoot you,'" the man said. The bathroom was just outside the urology office where the shooting occurred. A woman hiding under a desk was talking so softly she could barely be heard. "I hear gunshots outside my office," the woman said. "I just heard another one. ... He's going to (expletive) kill us." "Oh, my God. ... He's outside my door," she said. Among the 50 calls police said they received just after 2 p.m. on Dec. 17 while Frazier still was considered an active shooter was a woman in a locked office, gasping for breath between sentences. "He's in the middle of the office," she said. "We think he shot one of our doctors." Police began arriving at the scene within minutes, and entered Urology Nevada while some callers still were on the phone. Police confirmed Tuesday Frazier had been a patient at the facility, and complained about a botched surgery in 2010. The unemployed former power plant worker made it clear in a suicide note that he planned the attack and that his focus was on the physicians at Urology Nevada, police said. Authorities have not said who operated on Frazier, who lived near Lake Almanor, about 130 miles north of Reno. Detectives are "actively looking into" Frazier's involvement in an Internet chat room where he reportedly complained about complications from the surgery, city spokeswoman Sharon Spangler said. She confirmed investigators are interviewing a former fiancee of Frazier's who told The Associated Press he took medication for depression when they were together in the mid-1990s. They're also talking to a neighbor who said Frazier told him the day of the shooting that he was leaving and not coming back. Police haven't determined if Frazier had a history of mental illness. But Spangler said detectives are in contact with the ex-fiancee, who told the AP he was a different person when he didn't take his medication for depression and was suicidal at least once during the 18 months they were together. Spangler also acknowledged investigators talked to the neighbor, Mike Hawthorne, who told the Reno Gazette-Journal that Frazier said the day of the shooting he wouldn't be back. Citing a neighbor, the Gazette-Journal first reported that Frazier sometimes ranted in a Yahoo group about vasectomy pain that he was still suffering more than two years after what he claimed was a botched surgery. Witnesses told investigators that Frazier said during the attack that he was looking for physicians. He used the shotgun to kill Dr. Charles G. Gholdoian, 46, president of Urology Nevada. He also critically wounded Dr. Christine Lajeunesse and seriously injured Shantae Spears, who was accompanying a relative on an office visit. Frazier then turned the gun on himself. Related:© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Engineer tells investigators brakes failed on NY commuter train that derailed, killing four

 NBC’s Katy Tur gives an update on the New York train derailment victims. By Richard Esposito, Hasani Gittens and M. Alex Johnson, NBC NewsA commuter train derailed Sunday morning as it hurtled around a sharp curve in New York City, killing four passengers and injuring dozens of others who were tossed around like rag dolls, authorities said.Investigators want to know why a New York-bound train derailed, killing four people and injuring dozens more. NBC's Tom Costello reports.Officials said at least 63 other people were injured when all seven cars of the Metro-North Commuter Railroad train jumped the tracks as it was rounding the notorious sharp turn right before the historic Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx about 7:22 a.m. ET.The Metropolitan Transportation Authority identified the four passengers who were killed as Jim Lovell, 58, of Cold Spring, N.Y.; James Ferrari, 59, of Montrose, N.Y.; Donna Smith, 54, of Newburgh, N.Y.; and Ahn Kisook, 35, of Queens.Fire officials said that as many as 11 of the injured were critical and that six were in serious condition.Initial reports said some of the cars had gone into the Hudson River, but they narrowly avoided plunging into river. Police divers were in the frigid waters just in case, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said."Everything has proven negative as far as those searches are concerned," he said.Sources told NBC News late Sunday afternoon that the train's engineer — a "respected veteran" with 20 years of Metro-North experience who suffered minor injuries — claimed when first responders arrived that he hit the brakes as the train approached the turn.Earl Weener, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, wouldn't discuss what might have caused the accident. Investigators said they had recovered the train's data recorder, which should show how fast it was traveling and whether its brakes did, in fact, fail.What can travelers expect for their work commutes Monday morning? NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports. Weener said cars that were still on their sides were being uprighted to see whether there were any other deaths or injuries.Just short of the stationMetro-North said the 5:54 a.m. diesel train from Poughkeepsie derailed just feet from the water near the station. It was due at Grand Central Station at 7:43 a.m.The train was half full, with about 150 passengers, rail officials said. The locomotive was on the north end of the train, pushing the cars southward."On a workday, fully occupied, it would have been a tremendous disaster," Fire Commissioner Salvatore Joseph Cassano told reporters at the scene.One of the victims was found in the first car, one was found outside that car, another was found near the second and third cars, and the fourth was found outside the fourth car. In a note to staff, TODAY Executive Producer Don Nash said Lovell was a TODAY audio technician who was on his way to prep the 30 Rock Christmas tree for this week’s lighting when the train derailed.New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and federal safety officials say the investigation could take a week to 10 days."It's a reminder to all of us that life is a precious gift," Cuomo said at an afternoon news conference.The condition of the tracks and the cars will be the focus of the NTSB probe, along with the speed the train was traveling, Weener said. The investigation is expected to take a week to 10 days.Sherelle Coore, a 19-year-old college student from the Bronx who was aboard the train, told her cousin from her hospital bed that she felt a "jerking" movement and then everything started happening very quickly. "She hit the side of her head," Coore's cousin, Lisa Delgado, told NBC New York. "She saw the woman in front of her go out the other window. Her glass broke, and she hung on to the side rails like a monkey while the train was flipping and the rocks were coming in."Sherry Nemmers, who lives near the scene, told NBC News that she heard a sound "that was a little too familiar for me." She'd heard it before this summer, when a CSX freight train hauling trash on the same line derailed near the same area of the Bronx. NTSB via TwitterNTSB investigators retrieve an event recorder from the derailed Metro North train. "I heard this thud — this dull thud. It sort of sent chills up me because it was a sound that I heard in July," Nemmers said. "I was afraid that it was going to be a train, and it was."No one was injured in July, but questions were raised about the safety of the track's design and its notoriously sharp turn right before the station. Cuomo noted that the two accidents happened at about the same location but said, "There has to be another factor. ... It can't just be the curve."Weener said the agency would examine whether Sunday's incident could be related, but he said, "At this point in time, we have no indication it was a factor."At least six cops injuredAt St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, where at least 10 victims were taken, officials said critical patients had spinal cord injuries and broken bones. Carlo Allegri / ReutersThe train derailed on a curved section of track in the Bronx on Sunday morning, coming to rest just inches from the water and causing multiple deaths and dozens of injuries.Hospital officials said the injured there included a 14-year-old boy and his father, along with a New York police officer on her way to work who suffered broken bones. Sources said five off-duty New York officers were among the injured, all with relatively minor injuries and reported to be stable.Metro-North Hudson line service was suspended in both directions. Amtrak service between New York and Albany reopened in midafternoon with delays."I think it's fair to say that tomorrow, people who use these lines should plan on a long commute," Cuomo said.President Barack Obama was informed of the crash by the Department of Homeland Security, a White House official said. "His thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families who lost a loved one and everyone affected by this incident," the official said.The White House said Obama would continue to stay in touch with New York officials throughout the day.MTA officials said JFK High School in the Bronx has been established as a meeting area for passengers and their loved ones, and 718-817-7444 is the contact number for those seeking the status of relatives who may have been aboard the train.Elisha Fieldstadt, Katy Tur, Tom Winter, Jonathan Dienst, Kristen Dahlgren and Christopher E. Nelson of NBC News contributed to this report.Related: Train derailment latest in string of problems for Metro-North this yearThis story was originally published on Sun Dec 1, 2013 2:57 PM EST