The son of a police detective opened fire at a Nebraska high school Wednesday, fatally wounding the assistant principal and forcing panicked students to take cover in the kitchen of the building just as they returned from holiday break. 
 
 An unidentified student, center, is united with a loved one, in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011, outside the Millard South High School after a student shot and wounded two adults, causing students... (Associated Press) 
 
 An unidentified student is united with a loved one in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011, outside the Millard South High School. Police say a 17-year-old who opened fire in an Omaha, Neb., high school... (Associated Press) 
 
 Students react in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011, outside the Millard South high school in Omaha, after a student shot and wounded two adults and caused students to rush into a school kitchen to... (Associated Press) 
 
 Security forces stand guard outside the Millard South high school in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011, where a student opened fire, wounding two adults and causing students to rush into a school kitchen... (Associated Press) 
 
 Map locates Millard South High School in Omaha, Neb., where a gunman has injured at least two individuals. (Associated Press) 
 
 An undated photo shows Millard South high school student Robert Butler Jr. Butler shot and wounded two adults, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011, at the Millard South high school in Omaha, causing students to rush... (Associated Press) 
 
 Unidentified students clasp hands as they leave Millard South high school in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. Police say a 17-year-old who opened fire in the school fatally shot himself after leaving... (Associated Press) 
 
 The gunman, who had attended the school for no more than two months, also wounded the principal before fleeing from the scene and fatally shooting himself in his car about a mile away. 
 
 Authorities declined to speculate about why the suspect, identified as 17-year-old Robert Butler Jr., targeted the administrators. 
 
 Vice Principal Vicki Kaspar, 58, died at a hospital hours after the shooting, police said. Principal Curtis Case, 45, was listed in stable condition. 
 
 "I can't think of a nicer person. I can't see how anyone would be cross with her," John Manna, who lives two blocks from the school, said of Kaspar earlier Wednesday. Manna said he knew Kaspar because his older son graduated from high school with her son in 1996. 
 
 Jessica Liberator, a sophomore at Millard South High School, said she was in the cafeteria when another administrator "rushed in to tell everybody to get in the back of the kitchen." 
 
 She said she started to cry when students heard a knock on the kitchen door and a cafeteria worker yelled for everybody to get down. It was a false alarm. Nobody came in. 
 
 She huddled with Brittany Brase, another sophomore. Asked whether they were best friends, Brase said, "No, not really." But, she added: "She's my best friend now. These things bring you together." 
 
 Butler had transferred in November from a high school in Lincoln, about 50 miles southwest of Omaha. 
 
 In a rambling Facebook post filled with expletives, Butler warned Wednesday that people would hear about the "evil" things he did and said the school drove him to violence. 
 
 He wrote that the Omaha school was worse than his previous one, and that the new city had changed him. He apologized and said he wanted people to remember him for who he was before affecting "the lives of the families I ruined." The post ended with "goodbye." 
 
 A former classmate of Butler's from Lincoln confirmed the Facebook post to The Associated Press and provided AP with a copy of it. 
 
 Conner Gerner said he remembered Butler as being energetic, fun and outgoing. Gerner said Butler sometimes got in trouble for speaking out too much in class, but he did not seem angry. 
 
 Butler's stepgrandfather, Robert Uribe, said the news still seemed unreal to him Wednesday evening and didn't seem to fit with the polite teen he knew. 
 
 "I have no idea what led to this," said Uribe, who last saw Butler about a month ago. Uribe said nothing appeared to be wrong at that time. 
 
 Lincoln school officials declined to provide details about Butler's student record. But Lincoln Southwest High School Principal Rob Slauson said Butler was involved in few, if any, activities before transferring to the new school. 
 
 "I think it's safe to say that in the yearbook, there was one picture of Robert Butler, and that was his school picture," Slauson said. 
 
 Police Chief Alex Hayes provided no details on the weapon Butler used or how he obtained it. Butler's father is a detective for the Omaha Police Department. Investigators were interviewing the seven-year veteran to learn more about what may have led to the shooting. 
 
 Authorities first received reports of the shooting around 12:50 p.m. The school was immediately locked down, but within two hours, students were being released in groups. 
 
 When the first group of students emerged, parents began applauding. Some of the students smiled, raised their hands in the air and flashed a V for victory sign. 
 
 Crystal Losole, whose son and a nephew are juniors at the school, said she got a call from her son when he was hiding in the kitchen. 
 
 Hugging him later and weeping, Losole said when she learned of the shooting, "My knees kind of buckled." 
 
 Her son, Skyler Marion, said he was in the cafeteria when Assistant Principal Brad Millard loudly announced that there was "a code red" and that everybody needed to evacuate. 
 
 At first, nobody believed Millard, Skyler said. But when Millard's face turned white, students knew it was no joke. 
 
 The shooting news jolted the suburban neighborhood in west Omaha where the principal lives. 
 
 "I'm really sad," said Judy Robison, who lives six houses away from the Case family. "There's been shootings downtown, but we're really pretty insulated out here." 
 
 The school on the west side of Omaha has about 2,100 students. 
 
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 Associated Press writers Nelson Lampe, Eric Olson, Margery Beck, Melanie Welte, Ryan Foley and Michael Crumb contributed to this report. ||||| Sponsored Links 
 
 OMAHA, Neb. -- An angry online posting from the 17-year-old boy who opened fire at a Nebraska high school, killing an assistant principal before later fatally shooting himself, offers some clues about why the son of a police detective turned violent a couple of months after transferring there.As authorities work to sort out what may have led to Wednesday's shooting, those who knew Robert Butler Jr. are struggling to reconcile his final actions with their memories of the fun, outgoing student who liked to make jokes and sometimes got into trouble for talking in class.The gunman, who had attended Omaha's Millard South High School for no more than two months, also wounded the principal before fleeing from the scene and fatally shooting himself in his car about a mile away."It's just unreal," said Robert Uribe, Butler's stepgrandfather. Uribe said nothing appeared to be wrong when he talked to Butler briefly when he last saw him a month ago. He said the polite young man he knew didn't seem like a likely gunman."I don't know what would possess him to do that," Uribe said.Assistant Principal Vicki Kaspar, 58, died at Creighton University Medical Center Wednesday evening, hours after the shooting. Principal Curtis Case, 45, was in serious but stable condition.Butler posted a rambling message on Facebook shortly before the shooting about his unhappiness with his new school, but he didn't supply many details. Instead, the expletive-laced note predicted Butler's friends would hear about the "evil things" he was about to do.He wrote that the Omaha school was worse than his previous one, and that the new city had changed him. He apologized and said he wanted people to remember him for who he was before affecting "the lives of the families I ruined." The post ended with "goodbye."Butler had transferred in the fall from a high school in Lincoln, about 50 miles southwest of Omaha. A former classmate of Butler's from Lincoln confirmed the Facebook post to The Associated Press and provided AP with a copy of it.Conner Gerner recalled Butler as being energetic, fun and outgoing. Gerner said Butler sometimes got in trouble for speaking out too much in class, but he did not seem angry."He just seemed like he had a lot of energy. He liked to talk to people. He was always moving," Gerner said.Another friend, Jacob Edward Rinke, said he and some others had exchange Facebook posts with Butler the night before the shooting. The discussion was about cars and included what Rinke described as normal ribbing between friends."We were hazing each other about car stuff. He seemed fine and everything. He seemed happy," Rinke said.Rinke said Butler had lived up the street from him and they used to play sports and video games together."He didn't seem like a kid who would go out and do this. When I first heard about this in school I didn't believe it. I was pretty much in denial about it," Rinke said.Another acquaintance from Lincoln, 15-year-old Justin Reynolds, said he and his older brother used to hang out with Butler at a local skate park."He was always trying to make a joke," Reynolds said. "No matter what mood someone was in, he was always trying to make them feel better."Lincoln school officials declined to provide details about Butler's student record there, but they described him as a "fairly normal, average student. Lincoln Southwest High School Principal Rob Slauson said Butler was involved in few, if any, activities.Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes provided no details on the weapon Butler used or how he obtained it. Butler's father is a detective for the Omaha Police Department. Investigators were interviewing the seven-year veteran Wednesday to learn more about what may have led to the shooting.Authorities first received reports of the shooting around 12:50 p.m. The school was immediately locked down.Sophomore Jessica Liberator said she was in the cafeteria when another administrator "rushed in to tell everybody to get in the back of the kitchen."She said she started to cry when students heard a knock on the kitchen door and a cafeteria worker yelled for everybody to get down. It was a false alarm. Nobody came in.She huddled with Brittany Brase, another sophomore. Asked whether they were best friends, Brase said, "No, not really." But, she added: "She's my best friend now. These things bring you together."Within two hours of the shooting, students were being released in groups, and when the first group emerged from the school, parents began applauding. Some students smiled, raised their hands in the air and flashed a V for victory sign.John Manna, who lives two blocks from the school, called Assistant Principal Kaspar a wonderful person who had worked as a counselor and teacher before becoming an administrator. Manna said he knew Kaspar because his older son graduated from high school with her son in 1996."I was just shocked. I can't think of a nicer person. I can't see how anyone would be cross with her," Manna said before her death.The school on the west side of Omaha has about 2,100 students. District officials said Millard South would be closed Thursday.Associated Press writers Nelson Lampe, Eric Olson, Barbara Rodriguez, Amy Shafer, Margery Beck, Melanie Welte, Ryan Foley and Michael Crumb contributed to this report.
– The 17-year-old son of an Omaha police detective opened fire at his high school yesterday, shooting the principal and assistant principal, who later died of her injuries. The principal is in serious but stable condition, AP reports. The student, identified as Robert Butler Jr., fled the school and fatally shot himself in his car. Butler—who had transferred to the high school in October—did not shoot any students. In a rambling Facebook post, he blamed Omaha and the high school for changing him, and said he wanted people to remember the person he was before. "He was popular with students and seemed real pleasant," the principal of his previous high school told the Omaha World-Herald, describing Butler as "a fairly normal, average" student. Click for more on Butler's plans to do "evil things."