Thursday, a student within the Westside Community told police he was robbed at gunpoint by two other Westside students.
Angela Schumaker told 6 News that her son attempted to sell a cell phone to two students Thursday when one took the phone without giving him money and another pulled out a gun. “He held a gun to my son, and it had a laser on it."
Schumaker said her son told her he was even threatened by the student with the gun, and hearing the despair in his voice hurt her. “I kept telling him it’s not his fault." She took to the NextDoor app over the weekend, posting about the incident to not only inform parents, but to also hear about any other incidents they may have experienced.
Parents then informed the school district, who sent out an email to all parents within the district Monday night.
Brandi Paul with the district said students were never in any danger aside from the one who alleges the armed robbery, and the case is now in the hands of the Omaha Police Department. “This happened off campus. As terrible as it was, it didn’t happen in our schools. It didn’t involve our campuses or during school hours, so we’re going to help Omaha police in any way we can."
Paul said two of the alleged suspects are believed to be Westside students, but they haven’t been seen in class for several weeks.
One of the suspects is Cameron Williams, and his mother, Rachel Allen, told 6 News she hasn’t seen him in about three weeks. “To know that my child did that to another kid like that, it just broke my heart."
Schumaker contacted Allen after the incident occurred, and the two formed a special bond. Allen explained to Schumaker and her family she has done nearly everything to help her son, and she’s hurt it came down to someone being threatened and scared.
“I feel like I failed my son. I felt like I failed the community. I felt like I failed Angela. I felt like I failed her son,” Allen said. “I kept telling her so many times, ‘I want you to know that I didn’t raise my son around this type of behavior. I’ve never encouraged it. I’ve been trying so hard to get him help and to keep him from being like this. I am so sorry that I failed him.’”
Both say the crime is part of a bigger issue, and the two want more help for children like Cameron. “We need mental healthcare for our children. Our children are failed by a system that is so quick to lock them up, to get them system-involved and to not get them the preventative care that they need,” Schumaker said.
Allen stressed to 6 New she hasn’t seen her son in three weeks, and she is asking the public to contact Crime Stoppers if they happen to see him.