Nebraska ? The teen gunman who fatally shot eight people in a mall earlier this month tried to kill himself by swallowing about 30 pills nearly two years earlier, according to court records released Wednesday.

Months later, Robert Hawkins left state care, with his father saying the boy “will have to stand or fall on his own.”

A judge on Wednesday released case worker reports, a psychological evaluation and a letter to the court from Hawkins’ father, Ron Hawkins. The judge also released 11 transcripts of Hawkins’ earlier court proceedings, adding detail to Hawkins’ troubled teen years.

The judge ordered the information released after motions were filed by several news organizations.

In one report, Hawkins, who had been in and out of the juvenile justice system since he was 14, told a social worker that he was feeling overwhelmed by court hearings and school.