Texas mall mass shooting leaves 8 dead and 7 injured

Eight people were killed and seven wounded by a gunman dressed in black tactical gear who got out of his car at a Texas mall Saturday and opened fire in the parking lot  —  before being shot dead himself by a police officer at the scene, officials said.

The deadly mass shooting unfolded at 3:36 p.m. at the Allen Premium Outlets — about 30 minutes north of Dallas — when a lone gunman got out of a vehicle and began firing, according to police and footage from the parking lot.

An officer who was at the mall responding to an unrelated call heard the shots, ran toward the sound, and “engaged and neutralized the threat,” Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey told reporters at a press briefing.

Six victims of the shooter were found dead at the scene, while nine others were transported to area hospitals for treatment, two of which later died from their wounds, Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said. 

Police did not give the ages of the victims but witnesses said children were among the casualties — and that they saw what looked like a cop or mall guard wounded on the ground. 

“I pray it wasn’t kids, but it looked like kids,” said Fontayne Payton, 35, a worker at an H&M store outside of which the bodies of several victims could be seen in video footage lying under sheets.

Three victims are in critical surgery and four others are stable, Boyd said.

Dallas-based Medical City Health Care treated eight victims from the shooting, ranging in age from 5 years old to 61, according to CNN. 

The mass shooting appeared to have been at least in part caught on chilling dash cam video. 

In the footage, a person dressed in black stops their silver sedan, opens the driver’s side door and begins firing multiple rounds at passersby. The shots go on for nearly 30 seconds before the clip ends.

The attacker was “shooting his gun everywhere,” one witness said.

Graphic video circulating on social media shows the body of a man shot in the incident who is purported to be the slain shooter.

The man is seen in heavy military tactical gear in a pool of his own blood on the sidewalk outside of a Fatburger location in the mall.

Multiple marked vehicles from the Allen Police Department can be seen parked nearby in the background.

In the clip, a number of people can be heard casually talking about the body of the shooter while still clutching their shopping bags.

Behind the man, who is dressed in all black, an assault rifle can be seen lying on the ground, the video shows.

“We believe he acted alone and we don’t believe there’s another threat at this time,” Harvey said.

While officials have not named the shooter as of early Sunday, police searched a home in Northeast Dallas that is reportedly where he lived.

The man, who is in his 30s, lives with his parents and is said to drive a gray Dodge Charger and occasionally be seen in a security guard-type uniform, WFAA-TV reported.

The FBI was also involved in the search and talking to the family through a translator, the report said.

Aerial footage broadcast on local news stations appeared to show approximately four bodies hidden underneath white sheets in an outdoor area of the mall with visible blood stains.

The gunfire sent terrified shoppers sprinting for their lives, with some barricading themselves in the back of stores and in hallways/

Maxwell Gum, a 16-year-old shift leader at Wetzel’s Pretzels, was on his lunch break when a family with limited English fled into the back of his store, yelling “Gun! Shoot!” at him as shots rang out.

The teen ushered the family into the long delivery corridor that runs behind the mall’s stores, hoping they would find safety there.

Instead, they found chaos.

“There were probably like 300 people pouring in from all the different doors,” Gum told the Associated Press. “People are freaking out, we’re hearing screaming.”

“As I was holding the door open and letting customers inside the store… he [the shooter] was just blazing and shooting his gun,” one unidentified witness told CNN, adding the assailant was walking down the sidewalk “shooting his gun everywhere.”

The shooter wore a vest and “looked like he was trained … he knew what he wanted to do,” a mall worker whose manager saw the gunman told the outlet.

Several shots went off before “a lot of people started running straight to our door trying to come in,” the worker said, adding, “our manager he went out, just when he was opening the door people kept trying to come in, I guess he saw the person with a vest and everything, had a gun, it looked like an AK.”

Hundreds of people could be seen on news footage evacuating from the mall, escorted by law enforcement officers with their guns drawn. 

Payton, 35, was at H&M when he heard the sound of gunshots through his headphones.

Employees in the store brought the panicked shoppers into the fitting rooms and then a lockable back room where they remained until they were given clearance to leave by police, he said.

As he left the store, Payton said he saw broken windows and a trail of blood to the door. Discarded sandals and bloodied clothes were laying nearby.

Hours after the shooting, the parking lot remained packed with vehicles as police continued to investigate and searched each one, footage from the scene showed. 

Elaine Penicaro was shopping at the mall with her daughter when gunfire suddenly erupted.”We were outside the Converse store and we just heard all this popping,” she told Fox 4. “We kind of all just stopped, and then a second later, just ‘Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,’ and there were sparks flying like it was right in front of us.” They took cover inside of a store, she said.

The city of Allen issued a public safety alert warning people to stay away from the area while authorities continue to investigate.

Texas Gov. Greg  Abbott called the shooting an “unspeakable tragedy” in a statement.

“Our hearts are with the people of Allen, Texas tonight during this unspeakable tragedy,” said Abbott. “I have been in contact with Mayor Funk and DPS Director McCraw as well as other state and local leaders and offered the full support of the State of Texas to local officials to ensure all needed assistance and resources are swiftly deployed, including DPS officers, Texas Rangers and investigative resources.”

Abbott pledged to send “all needed assistance and resources” to the area.

Allen Mayor Ken Fulk said that Friday’s “senseless act of violence” was a complete shock to such a “proud and safe city.”

“Today is a tragic day for the city of Allen,” he told reporters.

“We are a strong and caring community, and we all want the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you and we are here for you,” he said.

“The city of Allen pledges to offer our complete support,” Fulk continued. “We know you are grieving — we are grieving. Rest assured, the nation and the world are also grieving.

President Biden has been briefed on the shooting at the White House.

With Post wires