Texas en8k8 777dures pain of another mass shooting

Since 2017, nearly 100 people have been killed by mass shooters at public places in the state of Texas.

That number does not include such shootings at private residences, like the one in Cleveland, Texas, when a neighbor asked the suspect to stop firing his semiautomatic rifle in his yard because it kept a baby awake.

Instead, the man entered the next-door home of Honduran immigrants, killing five, including an 8-year old boy.

The suspect, who was caught after a four-day manhunt, was identified as Francisco Oropesa, 38, a Mexican national who immigration officials said had been deported from the US four times since 2009.

The latest public mass shooting occurred on Saturday at an outlet shopping mall in Allen, Texas, a city of 105,000 about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of downtown Dallas, in which eight people were killed.

The shooter eventually was shot and killed by a police officer who happened to be in the area. Video on social media showed him lying on his back in a pool of blood with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head. Online video also showed what appeared to be children among the dead.

After each shooting, a similar refrain is heard. On the left is a call for more gun control and the banning of "assault weapons".

On the right is an unbending defense of the Second Amendment and how "a good guy with a gun" can stop mass shootings, although that hasn't always been the case in Texas, a state that makes it easy for people to carry weapons. The Allen mall did not allow weapons on the premises.

In the middle are the victims, whether they are people out shopping for groceries, praying at a church, or innocent children in a school building.

In a statement, President Joe Biden said the assailant in the latest attack wore tactical gear and fired an AR-15-style weapon. He urged Congress to enact tighter restrictions on firearms and ammunition.

"Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar. And yet, American communities have suffered roughly 200 mass shootings already this year, according to leading counts," said Biden, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff.

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has signed laws easing firearms restrictions following past mass shootings, called the mall attack an "unspeakable tragedy".

The assailant who killed eight people at the outlet mall was identified by authorities Sunday as Mauricio Garcia, 33, who had been staying at a nearby motel.

Three law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press named the gunman, who was fatally shot by a police officer who was at the mall on another matter. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

An official said police also found multiple weapons at the scene after Garcia was killed, including an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun.

Some news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, citing law enforcement sources, reported that Garcia had possible links online to white supremacist ideology, saying he had a right-wing tattoo. The stories sparked a heated debate on Twitter, with some alleging that Garcia had gang tattoos.

Police did not immediately provide details about the victims at Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling outdoor shopping center, but witnesses reported seeing children among them. Some said they also saw someone who appeared to be a police officer, and another, a mall security guard unconscious on the ground. Garcia apparently began shooting when he got out of his car outside the mall. He was outside when he was killed, and it is unclear if he entered any stores.

A 16-year-old pretzel stand employee, Maxwell Gum, described a stampede of shoppers.

"We started running. Kids were getting trampled," Gum said. "My co-worker picked up a 4-year-old girl and gave her to her parents."

Dashcam video circulating online showed the gunman getting out of a car and shooting at people on the sidewalk. More than three dozen shots could be heard as the vehicle that was recording the video drove off.

Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said seven people, including the shooter, died at the scene. Two other people died at hospitals.

The wounded remained hospitalized Sunday — three in critical condition and four in fair condition, the Allen Police Department. They range in age from 5 to 61, authorities said.

An Allen police officer was in the area on an unrelated call when he heard shots at 3:36 pm, the department wrote on Facebook.

"The officer engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat. He then called for emergency personnel," the post said.

Fontayne Payton, 35, was at a clothing store when he heard gunshots through his headphones.

"It was so loud, it sounded like it was right outside," Payton said.

When they were given the all-clear to leave, Payton saw the store had broken windows and a trail of blood to the door. Discarded sandals and bloodied clothes lay nearby.

Payton saw the bodies outside.

"I pray it wasn't kids, but it looked like kids," he said. The bodies were covered in white towels, slumped over bags on the ground. "It broke me when I walked out to see that."

Farther away, he saw the body of a man wearing all black clothing. He assumed it was the shooter, Payton said, because unlike the other bodies, it had not been covered.

On May 24, 2022. 19 children and two adults were killed when an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

On Aug 31, 2019, a 36-year-old gunman went on a shooting rampage in the cities of Midland and Odessa in Texas, killing seven people before he was shot dead by police outside a movie theater in Odessa.

On Aug 3, 2019, a 21-year-old gunman opened fire at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 23 people.

On May 18, 2018, a 17-year-old student at Santa Fe High School near Houston, killed 10 people. The weapons were owned by his father.

On Nov 5, 2017, a 26-year-old gunman opened fire at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people. The Air Force had failed to report the shooter's domestic violence conviction to a federal database, so he was able to buy guns.

The Allen shooting was the 199th mass shooting in the US in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Agencies contributed to this story.