(TheRedAlertNews.com) – A police officer in Allen, Texas, urgently requested backup before confronting and neutralizing a mall gunman who killed eight people and injured seven others.
The officer made a frantic call for support as he approached the H&M store at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday, where a man in his 30s had begun a shooting spree with an AR-15-style rifle.
In the audio from the officer’s call to the Allen Police Department, the sound of gunshots can be heard as he implores his fellow officers to hurry to the scene. “I’ve got people running. There’s still shooting,” he said. “I need everybody I got.”
Approximately two minutes after asking for backup, the officer successfully stopped the shooter and informed his colleagues, “I got him down,” as reported by the Daily Mail. The officer, who has not been publicly named, was at the mall for an unrelated reason when he heard the gunshots and engaged the suspect, according to Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey.
In the aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement, including FBI agents, searched the suspect’s home. The shooter had not been identified by Sunday.
Six victims were found dead at the scene, while nine others were hospitalized. Two of the hospitalized victims later died from their injuries, according to Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd. The ages of those wounded ranged from 5 to 61 years old.
Dashcam footage from the mall’s parking lot showed the shooter, dressed in black tactical gear, exiting a silver sedan and firing at shoppers. The 30-second video captures the chaos as people flee the parking lot, guided by security and police officers. The gunman, who lived with his parents in Dallas, is believed to have acted alone, as reported by WFAA-TV.
Allen Mayor Ken Fulk expressed shock at the “senseless act of violence” in the typically “proud and safe city.”
This incident marks the 191st mass shooting in the United States this year, as documented by the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an event where four or more people are shot.
The tragedy in Allen follows a shooting in Cleveland, Texas, where five people were killed just a week earlier after a neighbor asked a man to stop firing his rifle outside due to a baby trying to sleep.
Hero cop made frantic call for backup before taking down Texas mall gunman https://t.co/oNsN7vC2e3 pic.twitter.com/wvdMEnI2mk
— New York Post (@nypost) May 7, 2023
