By Rick Ruggles and Jonathon Braden
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS
A troubled relationship between struggling partners ended Friday night in death.
Other 2010 shootings by police
Friday night's shooting was the sixth involving Omaha police officers this year. In four of the previous five, officers were cleared of wrongdoing and returned to active duty. The other officer-involved shooting is still under investigation.
The other shootings:
>> Aug. 28, Shantae Veland, 31, was shot twice by Officer Bryan Miller, 24, after Veland backed the car she was driving and knocked Miller to the ground, police say. Veland, suspected of shoplifting, was running away from Miller and a security officer at Westroads Mall before she got in the car, police said. Police are still investigating the incident.
> July 21, Edward L. Sherrod, 29, was shot by Officer Scott Richter following a robbery attempt at a northwest Omaha grocery store where Sherrod fled on foot and reached for his waistband.
>> June 21, Abel Barrera-Siguenza, 22, was shot twice and killed by Officer Jason Messerschmidt outside the Guaca Maya restaurant and nightclub at 5002 S. 33rd St. Barrera-Siguenza had been firing at a car with a carbon-dioxide-powered pellet gun that investigators and witnesses said looked like a semiautomatic weapon.
>> May 11, William J. Worley, 43, was shot six times by five officers after he twice rammed into cruisers that had stopped him at the on-ramp of Interstate 80 at 84th Street. The shooting followed a shoplifting incident at Kohl's department store near 72nd and Pacific Streets.
>> Jan. 15, Daniel E. Adams Sr., 25, was fatally shot in the chest and stomach near 24th Street and Laurel Avenue. Police said Adams and another man stopped a vehicle on 24th Street near Hartman Avenue and robbed the driver at gunpoint.After a chase, Adams threatened to shoot himself and then pointed his gun at an officer. He was shot by Officers Zach Petrick and Chad Frodyma and died a short time later at the Nebraska Medical Center.
A police officer shot and killed Abraham A. Dawson after Dawson, 25, had threatened his 2-week-old baby with a sword, the Omaha Police Department said.
The shooting concluded a two-hour standoff at the Omaha Housing Authority's Pine Tower, 1500 Pine St.
Dawson met his girlfriend, Amanda Cornell, about two years ago at Community Alliance, Cornell's mother, Linda, said Saturday. Community Alliance provides support and services to people with mental illnesses.
Linda Cornell said Dawson suffered from schizophrenia and her daughter has severe depression and a bipolar-like condition.
The two began dating and planned to marry in December. They lived together, and Cornell gave birth about two weeks ago to a girl, whom they named Abranda in a combination of the names Abraham and Amanda.
But Linda Cornell said Dawson had stopped taking his medications this summer, leading to a decline in his mental health. “I had no idea he was that far gone,” she said.
She said that while Dawson was verbally abusive at times, she didn't believe he had physically abused her daughter until Friday night, when police said he threatened to kill her and then threw her out of the apartment. That left Dawson alone with their baby.
Linda Cornell, 51, said Dawson allegedly assaulted Amanda Cornell about 6 p.m. “He told her he'd kill her if she called police,” Linda Cornell said Friday night. The girlfriend delayed but eventually called the police.
When police arrived at the apartment shortly after 8:20 p.m., Dawson refused to open the door, cursed at them, broke items and threatened to kill the baby and police officers.
Police said they tried to negotiate with Dawson. During the standoff, Linda Cornell said, her daughter was in a police cruiser near the entrance of the Pine Tower.
The Police Department said Dawson had a history of violent acts and mental disturbances, including one felony assault charge in 2004. In that case, authorities said, he attacked his mother with a sword and she suffered a cut on the neck.
Police ultimately entered the apartment and said they saw Dawson standing over the baby with a sword. Officer Paul Milone, an 11-year police veteran, shot Dawson, who died at the scene.
Sometime before 11 p.m., an Omaha rescue crew member cradled what appeared to be the infant wrapped in a white blanket and placed her in an ambulance.
At 11:01 p.m., police strung up yellow crime scene tape around Pine Tower but allowed residents to enter and leave the building.
Milone was placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation, as is standard in such shooting cases.
At Pacific Hills Lutheran Church, 1110 S. 90th St., the Rev. Matthew Schneider expressed shock at what had occurred.
Dawson and Cornell attended the church for months, Schneider said, and Dawson had officially joined the church about four months ago. Cornell had relatives who had attended the church for many years.
The couple went back and forth on their commitment to a December wedding, said Schneider, associate pastor of the church.
Schneider said Dawson was quiet at church but seemed to be a good guy.
“When he had his head about him, he was very solid about trying to do the right thing for Amanda and for the child and for everyone involved,” Schneider said.
Contact the writer: 444-1123, rick.ruggles@owh.com
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