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A gunman stepped out of a silver sedan and began shooting people at an outlet shopping centre in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas, on Saturday, killing at least eight people.
Seven victims are being treated at trauma facilities, officials said Saturday night.
The gunman, who authorities believe was acting alone, is also dead.
Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said that at least nine people were sent to hospitals.
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"Of those that we transported, two have since died. Three are in critical surgery, and four are stable," said Boyd.
Witnesses who were at the Allen Premium Outlets told The Associated Press they saw multiple victims, including some who appeared to be children, and that they saw a police officer and a security guard who appeared to be unconscious on the ground.
Dashcam video that circulated online showed a gunman step out of a vehicle outside the shopping centre and immediately start shooting at people on the sidewalk.
More than three dozen shots could be heard as the vehicle recording the video drove off.
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An Allen Police officer was in the area on an unrelated call when he heard shots at 3.36pm, the police department wrote on Facebook.
"The officer engaged the suspect and neutralised the threat. He then called for emergency personnel. Nine victims were transported to local hospitals by Allen Fire Department," the agency wrote in the Facebook post.
"There is no longer an active threat."
A crowd of hundreds of people who had been shopping stood outside, across the street from the shopping centre, Saturday evening.
Officers circulated among them asking if anyone had seen what happened.
"The officer engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat. He then called for emergency personnel," the agency wrote in the Facebook post.
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https://twitter.com/ATFDallas/status/1654961891461013504
Mass killings are happening with staggering frequency in the United States this year: an average of about one a week, according to an analysis of The AP/USA Today data.
The White House said President Biden had been briefed on the shooting and that the administration had offered support to local officials.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has signed laws easing firearms restrictions following past mass shootings, called it an "unspeakable tragedy."
'Heard loud popping': Witnesses inside mall speak out
Fontayne Payton, 35, was at H&M when he heard the sound of gunshots through the headphones he was wearing.
"It was so loud, it sounded like it was right outside," Payton said.
People in the store scattered before employees ushered the group into the fitting rooms and then a lockable back room, he 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 were laying nearby.
Once outside, Payton saw bodies.
"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, he said.
"It broke me when I walked out to see that," he said.
Further away, he saw the body of a heavyset man wearing all black. He assumed it was the shooter, Payton said, because unlike the other bodies it had not been covered up.
Tarakram Nunna, 25, and Ramakrishna Mullapudi, 26, said they saw what appeared to be three people lying motionless on the ground, including one who appeared to be a police officer and another who appeared to be a security guard.
Another shopper, Sharkie Mouli, 24, said he hid in a Banana Republic store during the shooting.
As he left, he saw what appeared to be an unconscious police officer lying next to another unconscious person outside the outlet store.
"I have seen his gun lying right next to him and a guy who is like passing out right next to him," Mouli said.
Stan and Mary Ann Greene were browsing in the Columbia sportswear store when the shooting started.
"We had just gotten in, just a couple minutes earlier, and we just heard a lot of loud popping," Mary Ann Greene told The Associated Press.
Employees immediately rolled down the security gate and brought everyone to the rear of the store until police arrived and escorted them out, the Greenes said.
Eber Romero was at the Under Armour store when a cashier mentioned that there was a shooting.
As he left the store, Romero said, the shopping centre appeared empty, and all the shops had their security gates down.
That is when he started seeing broken glass and people who had been shot on the floor.
Video shared on social media showed people running through a parking lot while gunfire could be heard.
More than 30 police cruisers with lights flashing were blocking an entrance to the shopping centre,e with multiple ambulances on the scene.
A live aerial broadcast from the news station showed armored trucks and other law enforcement vehicles stationed outside the sprawling outdoor shopping centre.
Ambulances from several neighboring cities responded to the scene.
The Dallas office of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded.
Allen, a suburb about 40 kilometre north of downtown Dallas, has roughly 105,000 residents.
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