Texas mall shooting results in 9 deaths and 3 critically injured

Texas mall shooting results in 9 deaths and 3 critically injured

Authorities reported that a shooting on Saturday that left nine people dead, including the perpetrator, at an outlet mall in the Dallas region sent panicked customers running for their lives.

According to Jonathan Boyd, chief of the Allen Fire Department, seven persons passed away at the Allen Premium Outlets and two more were declared dead at a hospital.

Three of the injured people were still in serious condition as of Saturday night, while four had stabilized, he said.

Earlier on Saturday, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey stated that a city police officer responding to a separate call at the mall "neutralized" the alleged gunman.

Both the suspects and the victims' names were not right away made public. Medical City Healthcare, a hospital in North Texas, received eight patients from the incident, whose ages ranged from 5 to 61, according to Janet St. James, a spokeswoman for the organization.

The incident took place at the outdoor mall, which is located about 30 miles north of Dallas, during a busy day.

The police were called to reports of an "active shooter" around 3:36 on Saturday, according to officials.

Witness Denison De Souza captured the incident on camera as it unfolded in the parking lot. He captured images of individuals ducking for shelter and others scurrying into oncoming traffic. Similar incidents might be seen in other social media videos.

The White House announced in a statement late Saturday night that President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting. According to the statement, the White House was "closely monitoring the situation" and was in contact with law enforcement and local leaders to offer help.

On the suspect, very little information was made accessible to the general public.

Harvey stated, "We believe he acted alone and we don't believe that there is another threat at this time," during a news conference in the early evening.

According to eyewitnesses, the responding law enforcement personnel assisted customers in leaving and cleared each store to make sure no risks remained.

Numerous mall patrons and personnel claimed that when they heard gunfire, they ran outside or barricaded themselves in back rooms after taking cover where they could.

When the shooting began, Stan and Mary Ann Greene were perusing the Columbia clothing section.

Mary Ann Greene told The Associated Press, "We had just gotten in, just a couple minutes earlier, and we just heard a lot of loud popping."

The security barrier was quickly rolled down by staff, who then moved everyone to the back of the store until police arrived and led everybody out, according to the Greens.

Several witnesses reported seeing bodies, some of which they said were covered.

Tarakram Nunna and Ramakrishna Mullapudi told The Associated Press they saw what appeared to be three people lying motionless on the ground.