In the early morning hours of July 2, 1990, Sergeant Glenn Hobart Haas, 42, was shot and killed inside the Gothenburg Police Department lobby. Haas, a 12-year veteran of the Gothenburg force who had previously served seven years with the Cozad Police Department, was off duty but at the station at about 3:00 AM when a 17-year-old male arrived saying he wanted to speak with an officer. As Haas stepped into the lobby to assist, the teenager produced a .30-06 rifle and opened fire. Haas was critically wounded, airlifted to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney, and later died of his injuries.

The juvenile was arrested at the scene; investigators tied the attack to an earlier citation for criminal mischief. The shooter was convicted of murder and originally received a life sentence; his sentence was later modified to 80 to 99 years in prison. Sergeant Haas left behind a wife, son, and daughter, and the community mourned the loss of a long-serving officer.