Family, friends and the community gather to remember the man shot and killed at his own home near 180th and Q in west Omaha the day before Christmas Eve
A stunning crime with few answers.
Officers were called to Tammy Trail for the shooting before 6 p.m. Friday.
Michael Brinkman, 50, died at the hospital from gunshot wounds.
Investigators say it was possibly an attempted robbery.
There has not been an arrest.
Every person KMTV interviewed about Brinkman say it didn't take long for the longtime roofer to leave a lasting impression on them.
"A generous guy who didn't ask for anything in return and didn't wait to be asked,” said Brinkman’s neighbor Tammy Talacko. “He noticed people and when they needed help he helped them.”
Talacko lives across the street from where Brickman was shot.
The victim’s neighbor was across the street as the crime unfolded Friday.
"Kim (the victim’s girlfriend) had seen me and she came up and said, 'they shot Mike,' and then you're kind of in shock,” Talacko said.
Talacko, a psychiatric nurse, says she comforted brinkman's girlfriend after the shooting.
"I just kind of held her and stayed with her,” she said. “Law enforcement were coming and going and law enforcement was coming and going.”
Like every neighbor we talked with, Talacko says brinkman helped nearly everyone he met.
"He was just a very generous and giving person,” she said. “He was kind of the kind of guy who instinctively knew when you needed help. Without you ever asking, Mike would just kind of show up when you needed him."
It wasn't hard for the longtime roofer to leave an impression on people.
Jim Harding bought Brinkman's roofing business in May and spent several months working with him.
"Roofing for him is more than just putting shingles on somebody's home, it's a relationship and you don't see it that much in this business, it's very transaction. For Mike, it's personal,” Harding said, owner of Xcel Roofing.
A man described by everyone we talked with as selfless and kind, leaves an impression along Tammy Trail, the street where Brinkman lived and died.
"It's surreal,” Talacko said. “I know that word is sometimes overused, but it really is surreal."
