Hours after a gunman killed eight people in cold blood and injured seven at an Allen mall with an automatic rifle, officers arrived at the Dallas home where the attacker was living with his loved ones, said reported the WFAA. His initials and nationality were not revealed by investigators. The report indicates that representatives of the security services spoke to the family through an interpreter.
Neighbors told the TV station the man was around 30 and had lived there for as long as they could remember. They reported that “he was very quiet and shy”, often wearing some sort of camouflage uniform, although he was never seen with a weapon. His gray Dodge Charger was still parked in front of the house, neighbors say, although he and his car have been away for the past few weeks. They added that he and his family had never had any problems at home or with the police.
At around 3:36 p.m. Saturday, the shooter parked outside the Allen Mall, 25 miles from Dallas, and opened fire indiscriminately. An Allen policeman who was at the mall heard the gunshots and ran towards them. He confronted the shooter and “neutralized the threat,” Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey told reporters at a press briefing.
A video circulating on social networks shows the body of a man shot dead during the incident, which is believed to be that of the shooter. He is wearing military tactical gear. In the background, several vehicles with Allen Police Department markings can be seen parked nearby. Behind the man, dressed all in black, is a machine gun lying on the ground. Investigators believe the shooter acted alone, Harvey said. The motive for his actions remains unknown at this time.
The United States sets a record high rate of mass killings in 2023, repeating about once a week this year. Massacres in America claimed 88 lives in 17 massacres in 111 days. Whenever firearms were used.
Children at an elementary school in Nashville were shot and killed on a typical Monday. Northern California farm workers who died on the job because of the gunman’s resentment towards them. Dancers at a ballroom outside Los Angeles killed during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations. In the past week alone, four people have been killed and 32 injured in Dadeville, Alabama at a graduation party. And a man fresh out of jail shot and killed four people, including his parents, in Bowdoin, Maine, before opening fire on motorists.
2,842 people have died in mass killings in the United States since 2006, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
Murders are happening at a staggering rate this year, on average once every 6.53 days, according to analysis of AP/USA Today data. Only the year 2009 was marked by so many tragedies of this type during the same period.
Last year, the United States Supreme Court set new standards for the review of national gun laws, challenging gun restrictions across the country, analysts conclude.
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