Uncle of Target shooting suspect says family tried to get him help

Relative says law enforcement previously contacted about Target gunman

Relative says law enforcement previously contacted about Target gunman

SIX. I DON’T KNOW WHY HE I DON’T BELIEVE HE WANTED TO HURT ANYBODY. I REALLY BELIEVE HE JUST IT WAS A SCHIZOPHRENIC AND IT WAS HARD TO BE ALIVE AND HEAR THE VOICES. THE UNCLE OF THE MAN SHOT AND KILLED BY POLICE IN A TARGET STORE YESTERDAY BELIEVES MENTAL ILLNESS LED TO THAT DEADLY SHOWDOWN. THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M ROB MCCARTHY. I’M JULIE CORNELL. WE LEARNED THE GUNMAN IS JOSEPH JONES, A 32 YEAR OLD MAN WHO ENTERED THE SOUTHWEST OMAHA TARGET WITH A LONG GUN AND AMMUNITION BUT WHO SHOT NO ONE. KETV NEWSWATCH 7 JOEY SAFCHIK REPORTS THE FAMILY SAID THEY TRIED TO GET JONES HELP. THEY EVEN GOT FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT INVOLVED. SHE JOINS US LIVE WITH THAT EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW TONIGHT. JOY. UNCLE HOPES PEOPLE CAN HAVE SOME COMPASSION FOR HIS NEPHEW WHO HE CALLS JOEY. HE UNDERSTANDS THE TRAUMA INFLICTED ON PEOPLE AND DOES NOT HARBOR ANY ILL WILL TOWARDS THE OFFICER WHO SHOT JONES. THE UNCLE IS SPEAKING UP BECAUSE HE WANTS TO REIGNITE A CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESS. HE WAS A HURTING KID. HE WAS RAISED IN A VERY TOUGH ENVIRONMENT. AND THIS WAS PREDICTABLE. JOSEPH JONES’S UNCLE SAYS THE NEAR TRAGEDY AT TARGET WAS PREDICTED MORE PRECISELY BECAUSE HIS SCHIZOPHRENIC NEPHEW’S BEHAVIOR WAS THE OPPOSITE. ERRATIC. YOU SAY YOU SAW THIS COMING. WHAT CAN FAMILY MEMBERS DO TO PREVENT A TRAGEDY? RIGHT NOW, THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO. I AGREE. AND EYES OVER WHAT I COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENT. I’VE CALLED THE POLICE HAVE DISARMED THEM. I’VE CALLED MENTAL FACILITIES. I BEGGED WITH PEOPLE AND JOEY WAS NOT RASH. THE SARPY COUNTY SHERIFF CONFIRMS DEPUTIES HAVE RESPONDED TO MORE THAN ONE CALL AT JONES’S RESIDENCE, BUT CAN’T COMMENT FURTHER. I DON’T THINK THERE WAS ANY INTENTION OF OF HURTING ANYBODY. DO YOU THINK HE KNEW THAT HE WOULD SCARE PEOPLE? I DON’T THINK HE THOUGHT THROUGH THAT. BUT WE ALL KNOW THE ANSWER TO WE ASKED DURKIN WHY HE THINKS HIS NEPHEW CHOSE THAT STORE AT THAT TIME. THE UNCLE SAYS HE DOESN’T BELIEVE IT HAD ANY SPECIAL MEANING, BUT IT WAS CLOSE AND FAMILIAR. WE’VE CALLED THE POLICE AND TOLD THE POLICE THIS IS INEVITABLE. SHOULD HE HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO BUY GUNS? NO, HE SHOULD NOT HAVE. AND ONCE AGAIN, I SAY I’M PRO GUN. BUT WHEN YOU’RE HEARING VOICES AND THEY’RE TELLING YOU PARANOID THINGS AND THEY’RE TELLING YOU THAT THE CARTELS AFTER THEM AND THEY HAVE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILY AND ALL THESE DELUSIONS HE HAD, WHEN SOMEONE SAYS THAT TO A PSYCHIATRIST, A PSYCHIATRIST NEEDS TO HAVE. THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SAY AT THIS POINT IN TIME, I’M CONTACTING LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THIS PERSON’S RIGHT TO OWN A FIREARM, NEEDS TO BE TAKEN FROM THEM. HE WISHES HIS NEPHEW WOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN TREATMENT IN A FACILITY. GIVE PEOPLE THE TOOLS TO IT NEVER GETS TO THE POINT WHERE YOU HAVE A JODI JONES WHO WALKS INTO A TARGET AND DECIDES TO MAKE THE CHOICE HE MADE. DIRKSEN REITERATES THAT HIS HEART GOES OUT TO EVERYONE WHO’S IMPACTED BY HIS NEPHEW’S DECISION. WE ASKED WHY JONES WOULD HAVE SO MUCH AMMUNITION IF HE DIDN’T INTEND TO HURT ANYONE. HIS UNCLE BLAMES HIS NEPHEW’S DELUSIONS AND SAYS IF JONES HAD WANTED TO CAUSE OTHE

Uncle of Target shooting suspect says family tried to get him help

Relative says law enforcement previously contacted about Target gunman

Larry Derksen, Jr. says his nephew was troubled, and the family and law enforcement knew it.Omaha police said Joseph Jones, 32, was shot and killed by an Omaha police officer Tuesday inside the Target store in Southwest Omaha when Jones repeatedly refused commands to drop the rifle he was carrying.Derksen said the family had repeatedly called law enforcement worried about the guns Jones kept in his Gretna-area home.The Sarpy County Sheriff acknowledged Wednesday that deputies had been in contact with Jones, but the investigation prohibited any further comment."I agonize over what I could have done different. I've called the police, have disarmed him," Derksen said in an interview Wednesday with KETV NewsWatch 7. "I've called mental facilities. I begged with people. And Joey was not rational."Without evidence of a crime, there is little if anything law enforcement can do to confiscate a weapon.In the KETV NewsWatch 7 interview, Derksen recounted a series of concerning episodes involving his nephew, and the family's repeated attempts to get help for him.Security camera images provided by Omaha police showed Jones through the Target store for several minutes. At one point he goes to the entrance and then returns inside.During all this time, he was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and ammunition, but he shot no one."I don't think there was any intention of hurting anybody," Derksen said. "He was a hurting kid. He was raised in a very tough environment. And this was predictable."Derksen describes himself as "pro gun," but feels something more should have been done to take weapons away from Jones."When you're hearing voices and they're telling you paranoid things and they're telling you that the cartel's after them ... when someone says that to a psychiatrist, a psychiatrist needs to have the responsibility to say, at this point in time, I'm contacting law enforcement and this person's right to own a firearm needs to be taken from them," Derksen said.

OMAHA, Neb. —

Larry Derksen, Jr. says his nephew was troubled, and the family and law enforcement knew it.

Omaha police said Joseph Jones, 32, was shot and killed by an Omaha police officer Tuesday inside the Target store in Southwest Omaha when Jones repeatedly refused commands to drop the rifle he was carrying.

Derksen said the family had repeatedly called law enforcement worried about the guns Jones kept in his Gretna-area home.

The Sarpy County Sheriff acknowledged Wednesday that deputies had been in contact with Jones, but the investigation prohibited any further comment.

"I agonize over what I could have done different. I've called the police, have disarmed him," Derksen said in an interview Wednesday with KETV NewsWatch 7. "I've called mental facilities. I begged with people. And Joey was not rational."

Without evidence of a crime, there is little if anything law enforcement can do to confiscate a weapon.

In the KETV NewsWatch 7 interview, Derksen recounted a series of concerning episodes involving his nephew, and the family's repeated attempts to get help for him.

Security camera images provided by Omaha police showed Jones through the Target store for several minutes. At one point he goes to the entrance and then returns inside.

During all this time, he was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and ammunition, but he shot no one.

"I don't think there was any intention of hurting anybody," Derksen said. "He was a hurting kid. He was raised in a very tough environment. And this was predictable."

Derksen describes himself as "pro gun," but feels something more should have been done to take weapons away from Jones.

"When you're hearing voices and they're telling you paranoid things and they're telling you that the cartel's after them ... when someone says that to a psychiatrist, a psychiatrist needs to have the responsibility to say, at this point in time, I'm contacting law enforcement and this person's right to own a firearm needs to be taken from them," Derksen said.

Uncle of Target shooting suspect says family tried to get him help

Relative says law enforcement previously contacted about Target gunman

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