A gunman shot and killed eight people and injured at least seven others in a busy Texas shopping mall, police said.
The gunman got out of a vehicle and began shooting outside the Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen, a Dallas suburb, causing hundreds of shoppers to flee in panic.
He was “walking down the sidewalk just … firing his gun outside,” an eyewitness told local ABC affiliate WFAA TV.
“He was just shooting his gun everywhere for the most part.”
Maxwell Gum, a 16-year-old session worker at Wetzel’s Pretzels, was on his lunch break when a family with limited English ran into the back of his shop, urgently saying “Gun! Shoot!” as the sound of gunfire could be heard in the background.
He led the family into a long delivery corridor that runs behind the mall shops, hoping it would be a safe place to hide, but they found chaos.
“There were probably about 300 people pouring in from all the different doors,” the teen said. “People are freaking out, we hear screaming.”
The gunman, believed to have been acting alone, was killed by a police officer at the scene, authorities said.
A police officer was in the area on an unrelated call when he heard gunfire at 3:36 pm Saturday, Allen Police said on Facebook.
“The officer engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat. He then called 911,” the department wrote in a post.
There are currently no confirmed details about the victims, but witnesses have reported seeing children among them.
Some said they also saw what appeared to be an unconscious police officer and mall security guard on the ground.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the shooting an “unspeakable tragedy”.
He said in a statement that the state stands ready to offer any assistance local authorities may need.
