Texas officials announced that eight victims were killed in a shooting at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday afternoon, which also injured seven others.
via: USA Today
Amid the chaos as hundreds of shoppers at Allen Premium Outlets scrambled for cover Saturday, a police officer on an unrelated call heard the gunshots, engaged the suspect and “neutralized the threat,” Allen police said. Police have not released the identity of the shooter.
Six victims and the gunman died at the scene, authorities said. Nine people were transported to regional hospitals, where two died a short time later, police said. Three people were hospitalized in critical condition and four were stable.
The attack continues a troubling trend of mass shootings across the nation and in Texas. It comes a week after a gunman opened fire on neighbors in Cleveland, Texas, killing five people including a 9-year-old boy. Last May, a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, shot his grandmother before driving to an elementary and opening fire, killing 19 students and two teachers before being killed by police.
James Alan Fox, a professor of Criminology, Law & Public Policy at Northeastern who has studied mass killings for 40 years, says 2023 has been the worst year in terms of mass killings “since at least 2006 and probably ever.”
“I’ve not seen anything like this,” Fox said. “We have more guns in the hands of Americans. Gun sales have skyrocketed since COVID. There’s a lot of divisiveness in this country, and people suffering emotionally and economically since the pandemic.”
Police Chief Brian Harvey said he believed the shooter acted alone. He asked that anyone who witnessed the attacks or had video from the scene to contact police.
A vigil was scheduled for 5 p.m. local time Sunday at the Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen.
Saturday’s mass shooting was the nation’s third of the day, following others in Chico, Calif. and Columbus, Ohio.
