Several Feared Dead, 9 Injured After Gunman Opens Fire in Texas Mall, Video Shows Shoppers Fleeing in Panic

A gunman opened fire at an outlet mall in the Dallas suburb of Allen in Texas on Saturday, killing an unknown number and sending hundreds of shoppers fleeing in panic in the latest gun violence to strike the United States.

At least nine people were wounded and rushed to area hospitals, emergency officials said. Some of the victims were as young as five years old, CNN reported.

Witnesses who were at the Allen Premium Outlets said they saw multiple victims, including some who appeared to be children, and that they saw a police officer and a mall security guard who appeared to be unconscious on the ground.

An off-duty police officer was in the mall on an unrelated call when gunfire broke out around 3:30 pm (2030 GMT), said chief Brian Harvey of the Allen, Texas, police department.

“He heard gunshots, went to the gunshots, engaged the suspect and neutralized the suspect,” Harvey said. “He also then called for ambulances.” Harvey confirmed there had been fatalities but declined to give a death toll, saying “we do not have an accurate count.”

Dashcam video that circulated online showed a gunman step out of a vehicle outside the mall and immediately start shooting at people on the sidewalk. More than three dozen shots could be heard as the vehicle recording the video drove off.

A crowd of hundreds of people who had been shopping stood outside, across the street from the mall, Saturday evening. Officers circulated among them asking if anyone had seen what happened.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the mass shooting an “unspeakable tragedy.”

President Joe Biden “has been briefed on the shooting,” a White House official told reporters.

Authorities initially thought there might be a second shooter at Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling shopping complex in the city of Allen, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Dallas, CNN said.

Police combed through stores in the mall, and photos and drone video from the scene showed frantic shoppers and store employees rushing into parking lots.

Harvey later said police believe the unidentified shooter, who CNN said was wearing tactical gear, “acted alone.”

Janet St. James, a spokesperson for Medical City Healthcare, which operates multiple trauma facilities in North Texas, said it received eight patients from the shooting, ranging in age from five to 61, NBC News reported.

With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country — 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before.

There have been more than 195 mass shootings — defined as four or more people wounded or killed — so far this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

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