The facts took place in a large mall in the town of Allen in the Dallas area. The shooter was shot dead on the spot.
A gunman opened fire at a mall near Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, killing eight people before being shot dead, authorities said.
“(We) found seven deceased at the scene. We took nine people to the hospital (…) Of those we transported, two have since died,” said Jonathan Boyd, fire chief of Allen, a northeast Texas city where the shooting occurred.
Filming took place at the Allen Premium Outlets, a large shopping center in the city of Allen, Northeast Texas that was frequented by many customers doing their weekend shopping.
A policeman present
An off-duty police officer was at the mall on other business when gunshots rang out around 3:30 p.m. local time, local police chief Brian Harvey said.
The officer “heard gunshots, went to (the scene) gunfire, confronted the suspect and incapacitated the person,” the local police chief reported. He immediately called for help. The shooter’s identity was not released. His body was found dead when police reinforcements arrived, along with those of six other people.
Among the injured, who were transported to nearby hospitals, “three are undergoing emergency surgery and four” are in stable condition, the fire chief said. A five-year-old child was among those shot, according to a hospital official quoted by the media NBC News.
State Governor Greg Abbott lamented an “unspeakable tragedy.” US President Joe Biden “was briefed on the shooting,” a White House official told reporters.
The suspect acted alone
Local authorities praised the action of the police officer who shot the gunman. “We owe a debt to the first responders who rushed with fire (to the scene) and acted quickly to neutralize the threat,” said Keith Self, Republican Representative from Texas, whose constituency is Allen.
Video footage released by CNN shows the gunman getting out of a sedan in the mall parking lot and opening fire.
Authorities said there was talk of a possible second gunman, but Brian Harvey said police believe the incapacitated suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, “acted alone”.
Victims aged 5 to 61
Janet St. James, spokeswoman for Medical City Healthcare, which operates several trauma centers in North Texas, said she saw eight patients, ages 5 to 61, who were victims of the shooting, according to NBC News.
The site was in chaos, according to Jaynal Pervez, a witness interviewed by the CBS network who arrived on the scene after a call from his daughter, who was present at the mall.
“I saw shoes, people’s cell phones on the street,” he testified.
Tactical gear
According to CNN, the shooter was wearing tactical gear. With more firearms than people, the United States has the highest firearm fatality rate of any developed country: 49,000 in 2021 compared to 45,000 in 2020.
The Site Gun Violence Archive has recorded more than 195 mass killings, that is four or more people injured or killed, in the United States this year.