At a popular mall north of Dallas on Saturday, a shooter opened fire, killing eight people and injuring at least seven more, according to police. Allen, Texas’s police chief Brian Harvey announced at a press conference that the gunman, who investigators believe to be acting alone and whose purpose is yet unknown, was shot and killed by a police officer after he started firing outside of the Allen Premium Outlets mall.
At least nine individuals with gunshot wounds were sent to nearby hospitals, Allen Fire Department Chief Jon Boyd stated at the same press conference. At a second press conference on Saturday night, Boyd revealed that two of the patients passed away at the hospital. Four of the casualties were stable, while three others were in critical condition.
Eight of the injured individuals, whose ages ranged from 5 to 61, were being treated in trauma centres at Medical City Healthcare’s 16 hospitals in the vicinity, according to a statement.
At a press conference, Collin County Judge Chris Hill, the highest elected official in the county where Allen resides, commended law enforcement and other first responders but emphasised his ferocious wrath towards “those that would do evil in our community, in our backyard.”
Separately, after hearing reports of gunfire at the Stonebriar Mall late on Saturday, police in the neighbouring city of Frisco, Texas, said they had evacuated it. If the shooting had truly occurred was not yet known.
After the violence broke out, hundreds of people were seen peacefully leaving the mall, which is located about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Dallas, as dozens of police officers stood to watch. Many of them had their hands raised. The gunman was “walking down the sidewalk just… shooting his gun outside,” according to an unnamed eyewitness who spoke to the local ABC affiliate WFAA TV, and “he was just shooting his gun everywhere for the most part.”
Outside the mall, there were bloody walkways and what appeared to be bodies were covered in white sheets.
In a statement, Texas Governor Greg Abbott described the massacre as an “unspeakable tragedy” and stated that his state was ready to provide any help local authorities might require.
About 100,000 people live in the community of Allen, Texas.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, mass shootings have become routine in the United States. At least 198 have occurred so far in 2023, which is the most at this stage of the year since at least 2016. A mass shooting, according to the charitable organisation, is one in which four or more persons are hurt or killed, excluding the gunman.
