Tragedy struck Allen, Texas, on Saturday as a gunman opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling outdoor shopping center, killing eight people and wounding seven others. The incident took place around 3:30 pm local time.
According to reports, a silver sedan pulled up at the mall, and the gunman, who was identified as the shooter by the authorities, stepped out of the car and began shooting at people on the sidewalk. The shooter then moved towards the mall, where he continued to shoot at people.
Dashcam footage circulating on social media captured the harrowing scene of the gunman shooting at innocent bystanders. More than three dozen shots could be heard in the video as the vehicle that was recording the video drove off.
Police officers who were in the area on an unrelated call heard the gunshots and rushed to the scene. An Allen Police Department officer engaged the shooter and neutralized the threat, according to a Facebook post by the department. The officer then called for emergency personnel.
Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd confirmed that seven people, including the shooter, died at the scene. Nine victims were taken to area hospitals, but two of them later succumbed to their injuries. Three of the wounded were in critical condition, and four were stable in the evening, Boyd said.
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Witnesses reported seeing children among the victims, and some said they also saw what appeared to be a police officer and a mall security guard unconscious on the ground.
Hundreds of panicked shoppers fled for safety, with some getting trampled in the rush. A 16-year-old employee at a pretzel stand, Maxwell Gum, described the chaos, saying, “We started running. Kids were getting trampled. My co-worker picked up a 4-year-old girl and gave her to her parents.”
The motive behind the shooting remains unknown, and the authorities have not released any information about the identity of the shooter or the victims. The shooting in Allen is the latest in a series of mass killings that have occurred in the United States this year, averaging about one per week, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
President Biden was briefed on the shooting and offered support to local officials, the White House said. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the mall shooting an “unspeakable tragedy.”
The investigation is ongoing, and the authorities have asked anyone with information about the shooting to come forward. The incident has shaken the community, leaving many grieving and traumatized by the events that unfolded on Saturday afternoon. give an apt headline for the news report