Global Courant 2023-05-07 05:15:21
A gunman shot several people Saturday at an outlet mall in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas, killing an unknown number of people.
More to come
This is a breaking update. An earlier version of this story can be read below.
Multiple people were gunned down Saturday at an outlet mall in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas, sending hundreds of shoppers fleeing in panic from the latest gun violence to hit the United States.
Calls about gunshots came in from the Allen Premium Outlets around 3:40 p.m. local time. An Allen Police Department dispatcher confirmed the department was investigating a shooting but was unable to say more.
WFAA-TV reported that police at the scene said there were multiple victims, including children. Their condition was not immediately known, but WFAA reported that the Collin County Sheriff said the shooter is dead.
Rep. Keith Self, who represents the area that includes the mall, said he confirmed with law enforcement that the shooter is dead and no one else was involved in the attack.
A crowd of hundreds of people shopping lined up outside, across the street from the mall, on Saturday night. Officers walked around among them, asking if anyone had seen what had happened.
People are led away from a mall where a shooting took place in Allen on Saturday. (WFAA/the associated press)
Video shared on social media showed people running across a parking lot as gunshots were heard.
More than 30 police cars with flashing lights blocked an entrance to the mall, with several ambulances on the scene.
A live aircast from the news station showed armored trucks and other law enforcement vehicles stationed outside the sprawling open-air mall.
Ambulances from several neighboring towns arrived on the scene.
People gather across the street from the mall where Saturday’s shooting took place. (LM Otero/The Associated Press)
The Dallas office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded
Allen, a suburb about 25 miles north of downtown Dallas, has a population of about 105,000.
‘I pray they weren’t children’
Fontayne Payton, 35, was at H&M when he heard the sound of gunfire through the headphones he was wearing.
“It was so loud it sounded like it was outside,” Payton said.
People in the store dispersed before employees led the group into the fitting rooms and then into a lockable back room, he said. When they were cleared to leave, Payton saw that the shop had broken windows and a trail of blood leading to the door. Discarded sandals and bloody clothes lay nearby.
Once outside, Payton said he had seen the bodies of the victims.
“I pray they weren’t kids, but they looked like kids,” he said. “It broke me when I walked out to see that.
Stan and Mary Ann Greene were browsing Columbia’s sportswear store when the shooting began.
“We had just come in, just a few minutes earlier, and we just heard a lot of loud bangs,” Mary Ann Greene told The Associated Press. “I said, ‘Was that gunfire?'”
Employees immediately rolled down the security gate and led everyone to the back of the store until police arrived and escorted them out, the Greenes said.
