A shooter opened fire at a Dallas-area outlet mall, killing eight people and injuring seven others before being shot and killed by a police officer who happened to be nearby, sending hundreds of terrified shoppers running in terror.
The shooting that occurred in Allen, Texas, on Saturday was the most recent manifestation of the nation’s historically high rate of mass murders. Authorities claim that only a week prior, a man in Cleveland, Texas fatally shot five people after a neighbor asked him to stop shooting his gun while a baby slept.
At Allen Premium Outlets, a sizable outdoor shopping complex, police did not immediately release information about the victims, but witnesses claimed to have seen children among them.
A 16-year-old pretzel stand employee, Maxwell Gum, described a virtual stampede of shoppers. He and others sheltered in a storage room.
“We started running. Kids were getting trampled,” Gum said. “My co-worker picked up a 4-year-old girl and gave her to her parents.”
Dashcam video circulating online showed the gunman getting out of a car and shooting at people on the sidewalk. More than three dozen shots could be heard as the vehicle that was recording the video drove off.
Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said seven people including the shooter died at the scene. Nine victims were taken to area hospitals, but two of them died.
Three of the wounded were in critical condition in the evening, Boyd said, and four were stable.
