A gunman fatally shot eight people and wounded at least seven others at a busy mall north of Dallas on Saturday, police said.
The shooter, who authorities believe acted alone and whose motive is still unknown, was killed by a police officer after he began shooting outside the Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen, Texas, in the southern United States, according to a press conference reported by the city's police chief, Brian Harvey.
"We found seven people dead at the scene. We transported nine people to the hospital... Of those we transported, two have since died," said Jonathan Boyd, fire chief in Allen, a Dallas suburb where the incident occurred. the shooting.
The shooting sparked panic at the Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling shopping complex in Allen, 25 miles north of Dallas, packed with shoppers on the weekend.
A police officer was at the mall when the shooting took place around 3:30 p.m. local time (2030 GMT), Harvey said.
"He heard gunshots, he approached the gunshots, he confronted the suspect and he neutralized the suspect," Harvey said. "He also called ambulances."
The identity of the shooter was not released. His body, lying on a sidewalk, was one of seven bodies found in the mall when more police arrived.
Among the injured taken to nearby hospitals, "three are undergoing emergency surgery and four" are stable, according to the fire chief.
One of the victims is five years old, a hospital worker told NBC News, Afp replied.
According to images published by the media, dozens of people left the mall, many with their hands above their heads.
The local press, for its part, published images of hundreds of people leaving the shopping center, which was evacuated, when the shooting began. Shortly after, the Reuters agency reported that the assailant had been killed by police fire.
Allen Police reported that an active investigation was underway and asked citizens to avoid approaching the area.
Some witnesses have posted very harsh videos on social networks, where several victims are seen on the ground, bloody and piled up.
According to those images, there could be numerous victims, including children. It is partly because of these videos that there is talk of deaths before there is an official confirmation.
After what happened, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, issued a statement in which he explained that he is in contact with the mayor of the municipality and has offered him "all the support of the state", "the necessary assistance and resources".
"Our hearts go out to the people of Allen, Texas, tonight during this unspeakable tragedy," he said.
President Joe Biden "was briefed on the shooting," a White House official told reporters.
"We owe a debt of gratitude to the first responders who rushed to the shooting and moved quickly to neutralize the threat," said Keith Self, a Republican congressman whose district includes the city of Allen.
Footage broadcast by CNN showed the shooter getting out of a sedan car in the mall parking lot and going on a rampage.
Authorities initially thought there might be a second shooter, CNN reported.
But police combed the mall's stores, and Harvey later said police believe the man, who CNN reported was wearing tactical gear, "acted alone."
Janet St. James, a spokeswoman for Medical City Healthcare, which runs multiple trauma centers in North Texas, said she received eight shooting patients ranging in age from five to 61, NBC News reported.
A man who arrived at the mall after his daughter, who was inside, called to tell him about the shooting, also told CNN that police had tipped him off to a possible second shooter.
"We saw the police at the door and they told us we had to leave and they were still looking for the person," Jaynal Pervez said, according to CNN. "There are no safe places anymore. I don't know what to do."
Pervez later told CBS that he witnessed chaotic scenes in the mall parking lot. "I saw the shoes over there, mobile phones of people on the street."
With more firearms than people, the United States has the highest rate of firearm deaths of any developed country: 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before.
The United States has experienced at least 198 mass shootings so far this year, according to the organization Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people are killed, not including the perpetrator of the attack.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
