Cop made frantic call for backup before taking down Texas shooter
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The police officer who took down the Allen, Texas mall gunman made a panicked call for backup — pleading for “everybody” — moments before he encountered the suspect and shot him dead.
As he rushed to the H&M store at the Allen Premium Outlets Saturday, the hero cop tried his best to relay the chaos outside the mall where a man in his 30s opened fire, killing eight people and injuring seven others, including children, audio of the call to the Allen Police Department reveals.
With dozens of gunshots ringing out, the officer urged his fellow cops to get to the scene as fast as they could to help him take down the gunman, who was armed with an AR-15-style rifle.
“I’ve got people running. There’s still shooting,” the officer said during the call. “I need everybody I got.”
About two minutes after urging for backup to arrive, the officer was successfully able to take down the shooter, telling his colleagues: “I got him down,” according to the audio obtained by the Daily Mail.
The officer, who has not been publicly identified, was initially at the mall for an unrelated call, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey told reporters.
“He heard gunshots, went to the gunshots, engaged the suspect, and neutralized the suspect,” Harvey said.
Law enforcement, including FBI agents, raided the suspect’s home following the Saturday afternoon bloodbath. The shooter had yet to be named Sunday.
Six of those killed were found dead at the scene. Nine other victims were hospitalized, two of whom later died from their wounds, Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said.
What we know about Texas mall shooter Mauricio Garcia
The gunman who killed eight people and injured seven others before being shot dead by police at a Texas outlet mall has been identified as Mauricio Garcia, 33.
A look into Garcia’s past revealed:
- He served in the Army in 2008 but was eventually “removed due to mental health concerns,” law enforcement sources told local ABC 30.
- Garcia had undergone several firearms proficiency courses in 2015 and 2018 as part of his security guard work
- Investigators began probing whether Garcia held neo-Nazi views after police found a patch on his chest with the acronym “RWDS,” which stands for “Right Wing Death Squad”
- Garcia also appeared to be casing his target for weeks. He shared more than two dozen photos of the outlets on extremist forums in the weeks leading up to his mass shooting, seemingly determining what would be the most packed time at the mall to unleash the greatest carnage, NBC said.
- The mass shooter alluded to his declining mental health, too. One of his final posts lamented that no psychologist would be able to fix him and his fears of what his family might say about him.
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Officials said the wounded ranged in age from 5 to 61.
Shocking footage from a dashcam in the mall’s parking lot showed a person dressed in black tactical gear exit his silver sedan and open fire on the shoppers.
The video goes on for 30 seconds, showing the shooter firing round after round into the crowd as people stampede out of the parking lot with security and officers guiding their way.
The gunman lived with his parents in Dallas, according to WFAA-TV. Police believe he acted alone.
Allen Mayor Ken Fulk said the “senseless act of violence” was a complete shock to such a “proud and safe city.”
The massacre marks the 191th of its kind so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which documents mass shooting as an event where four or more people are shot.
It comes barely a week after five people were killed in Cleveland, Texas after a neighbor asked a man to stop shooting his rifle outside because a baby was trying to sleep.
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