US: 9 dead including gunman in mall shooting near Dallas

Texas [US], May 7 : At least nine people were killed, including the gunman, in a shooting incident on Saturday at a mall outside of Dallas, according to local police, reported The Hill.

A gunman opened fire at a crowded mall outside Dallas on Saturday, killing at least eight people and injuring at least seven before a police officer killed him.

The Allen Fire Department transported nine people to area hospitals, Allen Fire Department Chief Jonathan Boyd said. Seven people died on scene at the Allen Premium Outlets and two others were pronounced dead at the hospital, Boyd said Saturday evening. Three other victims were in critical condition, reported The Hill.

At a news conference Saturday night, Brian E Harvey, the chief of police in Allen, Texas, did not identify a gunman but said the person acted alone.

Chief Harvey said a police officer, who was on an unrelated assignment at the mall at the time of the shooting, heard gunfire, rushed toward it and killed the gunman, reported The New York Times (NYT).

The gunfire erupted around 3:30 p.m. at the Allen Premium Outlets as shoppers thronged the outdoor mall, which is about 25 miles north of Dallas and has more than 120 stores.

Videos circulating on social media show people dashing for shelter or running through a parking lot as loud popping noises can be heard in the background.

A video circulating on social media appeared to show the gunman, lying on the ground, clad in black and equipped with what appeared to be a tactical vest, multiple rounds of ammunition and a long gun, reported NYT.

"We all want the victims and their families impacted by this tragedy to know that we will wrap our arms around you and we are here for you," Ken Fulk, the mayor of Allen, said at a news conference.

Saturday's attack is the second-deadliest shooting of the year, after the Monterey Park, Calif., massacre in which a gunman killed 11 people in a ballroom on January 21.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, a database of shootings in the United States, there have been 199 "mass shootings," which it defines as the shooting of at least four people, in 2023. There was a particularly deadly spate of large-scale shootings this past week.

Last weekend, a gunman killed five people in Cleveland, Texas, near Houston, after he was asked by neighbours to stop shooting in his yard. He was captured after a multiday manhunt.

On Monday, a registered sex offender fatally shot six people, including his wife and three of her children, near Tulsa, Okla., before turning the gun on himself.

On Wednesday, a gunman opened fire at a medical office building in Atlanta, killing one and injuring four others. That, too, led to a manhunt before the suspect was caught.