On Friday, June 28, 74-year-old Billy Booth opened fire at his neighbours from inside his Crete home, Nebraska State Patrol said. He then fatally shot himself.

There were about 15 people inside and outside the home when the incident took place just before 7 pm. Three of the victims were adults aged between 22 and 43. Four of them were children between the ages of 3 and 10, cops told KETV and NBC News.

While some of the victims were treated and released, one of them is still being treated in Lincoln. Two are receiving treatment at Children’s Nebraska in Omaha. None of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries.

Police arrived at the scene to find the victims with gunshot wounds outside the residence. Booth was found dead inside his own home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and a shotgun was recovered.

The incident

“Preliminary investigation shows that all rounds fired by Booth came from inside of his house,” Nebraska State Patrol Col. John Bolduc said. “Investigators are still actively working this investigation to understand everything that occurred, but at this point, we don’t believe there was any verbal contact between the suspect and any of the victims in the moments that led up to the shooting.”

According to cops, there was possibly no dispute between Booth and victims in the moments that led up to the crime. However, in the past, the family and Booth have had quarrels over parking and other nuisances. Police also quoted someone as saying Booth “told them to go back to where they came from and to speak English.”

Since 2021, the Crete Police have heard “several complaints” in the neighbourhood. “Not necessarily associated with the victims’ house, but cars driving too fast in the neighborhood, improper parking, nuisance properties, quality-of-life type issues,” Crete Police Chief Gary Young Jr. said during a news briefing on Saturday, June 29, according to New York Post. “There was a single report from the victims that the suspect had flipped them off, told them to, ‘Go home’ or ‘back to where they came from,’ to ‘speak English.’”

At the time, the family did not wish to take the matter forward. The situation was resolved.

Joshua Morales, a friend of one of the victims, told KETV that he believed that crime was racially motivated. He said he was aware of previous incidents involving Booth.

“[Booth] was supposedly telling [the friend’s] parents to go back to their country, and they got into problems. And I guess until now the dude just shot the house up. I guess it was just a racist thing that happened,” Morales said. “So, I guess the dude that shot them was just racist ’cause he shot a Hispanic family and he told a Hispanic family to go back to their country.”

A motive for the shooting is being investigated.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – For our Sunday we saw partly cloudy and breezy; some isolated t-storms are possible with highs staying near 77. Monday we keep partly cloudy skies with another chance of afternoon/evening showers/t-storms; hotter with highs near 89.

Tuesday should be mainly dry with partly cloudy skies; still warm with highs near 85. Wednesday partly cloudy skies with highs near 88, with a slight chance of rain/thunderstorms after 1 pm and a chance of rain/thunderstorms for the night.

Thursday mostly sunny skies and a slight chance of rain/thunderstorms during the night, highs near 83. Then for Friday we’ll be mostly sunny but dry; highs remain in the low-mid 80s.

Saturday mostly sunny and highs near 89. Next Sunday highs near 90 and mostly sunny skies.

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A University of Nebraska regent has proposed a way for lifelong Cornhusker fans to carry their support into the afterlife. When Memorial Stadium undergoes its next renovation, the AP reports that Regent Barbara Weitz of Omaha suggested building a columbarium under the football field where departed fans can have their ashes inurned. The idea might be dead on arrival. Her fellow regents laughed at the proposal. Weitz acknowledged she made her pitch light-heartedly but didn’t think any proposal should be dismissed out of hand with the university facing a $58 million budget shortfall. The price for niches, where cremation urns are stored, could vary depending on location, with a spot under the 50-yard line or end zone sold at a premium. Revenue, she said, would go to academics.

“One thing I know best about Nebraska is … we really do love our sports teams,” Weitz says. “It’s part of being a Nebraskan. So why wouldn’t being buried under the field be a great way to be close to your team forever? So it was kind of a combination of needing money, talking about ways to get it, and then kind of trying to say let’s use our imaginations.” Fans wishing to scatter a loved one’s ashes at their favorite team’s stadium is not unheard of and there are columbariums and other fan memorials at soccer, rugby, and horse racing venues in Europe. There are cemeteries and columbariums at Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and military academies that are unaffiliated with sports.

The passion of fans makes sports-themed columbariums a natural, said Colm Hannon, founder of an Ireland-based business that creates fan memorials in Europe. “I think many families realize the fan’s spiritual home was the stadium,” Hannon said. “It was the place they had the best memories. It’s somewhere they would much rather go to remember their loved one than a graveyard… If you want to be mourned, choose a graveyard. If you want to be celebrated, choose a sports ground.” Nebraska Regent Paul Kenney says he found Weitz’s proposal “somewhat entertaining” but says her idea is “not in my top 1,000” possible budget solutions. Regent Jack Stark, the Huskers’ team psychologist from 1989-2004, said over the years he has had people tell him a loved one’s dying wish was to have their ashes sprinkled on the field. “I do think there would be a market for it,” Stark says.

(More University of Nebraska stories.)