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Mother of slain woman: 'She was trying to get away from it all'

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Shooting

The scene of a shooting at 15th and Superior.

Shooting

LINCOLN, NEB - 12/31/2016 - Police investigate a shooting at 1523 Superior Street on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. JAKE CRANDALL, Journal Star

LINCOLN, NEB - 12/31/2016 - Police investigate a shooting at 1523 Superior Street on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. JAKE CRANDALL, Journal Star

LINCOLN, NEB - 12/31/2016 - Police investigate a shooting at 1523 Superior Street on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. JAKE CRANDALL, Journal Star

Two women died in shootings at 1523 Superior Street on Saturday.

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Riley Johnson

Meagan Schroeder drove to a north Lincoln apartment complex New Year's Eve to return license plates to her ex-wife, her mother said Monday, but they don't know what happened before the meeting ended in gunfire.

Lincoln police said Brenda Schroeder, 40, fatally shot Meagan, 31, and then herself.

LPD officials are expected to release a more detailed look into the killing Tuesday morning after pathologists performed autopsies on the women Monday.

Meagan's boyfriend called 911 at 3:03 p.m. Saturday, saying she had texted him that Brenda had pulled a gun on her at her apartment complex near 14th Street shortly before 3 p.m., according to dispatch recordings.

Dispatchers indicated the boyfriend implored her to call 911, but she didn't.

"Officers immediately began searching for the person being threatened and the person responsible," Chief Jeff Bliemeister said in a news release.

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At 3:20 p.m., an officer spotted Meagan Schroeder's black Ford Explorer at Superior Place apartments at 15th and Superior streets and heard a single gunshot.

They discovered Meagan Schroeder dead in the driver’s seat and Brenda Schroeder in the passenger seat with a gunshot wound, police said. She was taken to the hospital and died of her injuries.

The shooting, Meagan's mother Laurie Streeter said, comes as Meagan looked to remake her life in Lincoln after the failed marriage complicated her life in North Platte.

"Meagan came out (to Lincoln) because she was trying to get away from it all,” said Streeter, 50 of North Platte.

Brenda Leeper and Meagan Schroeder married in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in March 24, 2014, and Brenda took Meagan's last name later that year. The two lived in North Platte with Meagan's three children from a previous relationship.

In August 2015, Brenda Schroeder filed for divorce, but quickly withdrew the matter.

"We have decided to try to work things out and try to make it work," she said, noting in her letter to the judge she would lose her filing fee. "Our family is more important."

Less than two months later, Meagan filed for a harassment protection order against Brenda, saying she had threatened her and trashed her home among other things. A judge denied the request and said her allegations didn't meet the legal requirements of stalking and harassment.

Brenda Schroeder filed for divorce again a week later, and that proceeding went forward.

The divorce was finalized in August.

When their marriage hit rocky points, Brenda became possessive and controlling of Meagan, Streeter said.

Brenda made a good living working for Union Pacific Railroad and wielded that financial power over Meagan, her mother said.

After the divorce, Brenda harassed Meagan and her new boyfriend, she said. Brenda's family couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Meagan, her three children and her boyfriend finally moved to Lincoln in April, her mother said. She worked as a payroll specialist with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and continued taking online classes in human resources through Bellevue University.

Recently, she'd taken a new job and was set to receive her bachelor's degree from Bellevue Jan. 28, Streeter said.

Though working full-time and going to school online, Meagan remained an active mom to her kids, a 12-year-old daughter and boys, 6 and 4, Streeter said.

On New Year's Eve, they planned to stay in and play games, family time that was a weekly event in her house, her 12-year-old daughter said.

Every week they'd have a family night and watch movies like "Finding Dory" together, she said. Her mother would take her to get her nails done, she said.

Streeter said Meagan Schroeder's 12-year-old daughter wanted to tell a reporter about the "very hardworking and very loving" woman her mother was.

"She always wanted to make sure me and my brothers had the best life.”

Meagan had a full plate and struggled to feel adequate until her boyfriend stepped in, her mother said.

With encouragement, Meagan felt more in control of her life, her mother said. And in November, she posted a quote to her Facebook wall from F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" that her mother said defined her daughter:

"For what it’s worth: It’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over."

Getting to that point hadn't been easy for Meagan, her mother said.

"I’m so proud of everything she’s done,” Streeter said through tears. "I’m so proud of her."

A funeral is planned for Saturday but arrangements are pending, Streeter said.

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Meagan Schroeder, 31, in a photo from her Facebook page.

Courtesy photo

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Brenda Schroeder, 40, in a photo from her Facebook page.

Courtesy

Reach the writer at 402-473-2657 or rjohnson@journalstar.com.

On Twitter @LJSRileyJohnson.

Riley Johnson

Riley Johnson

Local government reporter

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Shooting

The scene of a shooting at 15th and Superior.

LINCOLN, NEB - 12/31/2016 - Police investigate a shooting at 1523 Superior Street on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. JAKE CRANDALL, Journal Star

LINCOLN, NEB - 12/31/2016 - Police investigate a shooting at 1523 Superior Street on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. JAKE CRANDALL, Journal Star

LINCOLN, NEB - 12/31/2016 - Police investigate a shooting at 1523 Superior Street on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. JAKE CRANDALL, Journal Star

Two women died in shootings at 1523 Superior Street on Saturday.

Meagan Schroeder, 31, in a photo from her Facebook page.

Brenda Schroeder, 40, in a photo from her Facebook page.