At least nine people were shot by a gunman who opened fire Saturday afternoon at Allen Premium Outlets, a mall in Allen, Texas, a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, authorities said. The suspect in the shooting has died, authorities said.
“There are multiple victims,” Rep. Keith Self of Texas said in a statement, but fatalities have not yet been confirmed by law enforcement.
At a press conference Saturday night, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said an officer was on an unrelated call at about 3:36 p.m. local time when he heard gunshots, responded and “neutralized” the suspect in the shooting.
“He heard gunshots, went to the shots, engaged the suspect and neutralized him,” Harvey said.
LM Otero / AP
The Collin County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed this CBS Texas that the scene had been secured and that the shooter had died.
Nine victims were transported by paramedics to local hospitals, Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said. He did not confirm its terms.
“There may have been others transported in private vehicles, but those are the ones we know of,” Boyd said.
Janet St. James, a spokesman for Medical City Healthcare, told CBS News that its trauma facility had received eight gunshot victims ranging in age from 5 to 61 years old. He also did not confirm its terms.
video published on social media captured the sound of gunshots and panic among people in the mall.
“We were at Johnson & Murphy, buying shoes, and we heard some pops, like 10,” one man told CBS Texas. “And I looked at the customer next to me and I said, ‘Was that a shot?’ And we all said, ‘No, we don’t think so.’ We ran to the front when we heard like 20 more pops. And there was a guy on the other side, close like Francesca’s, with a rifle full assault, which was just shooting people.”
“We saw bodies coming down,” one woman said.
A White House official confirmed to CBS News that President Biden had been briefed on the shooting and was monitoring the situation.
In a statement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he had “offered the full support of the state of Texas to local officials to ensure that all necessary assistance and resources are rapidly deployed, including DPS officers , the Texas Rangers and investigative resources.”
