A gunman has shot multiple people at an outlet mall in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas, killing at least eight and sending hundreds of shoppers fleeing in panic in the latest gun violence to strike the country, officials said.
Calls reporting gunshots came in about 3:40pm local time from the Allen Premium Outlets.
The gunman, whom authorities said they think acted alone and whose motive was not yet known, was killed by a police officer after he began firing outside of the Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen, Texas, the city's police chief Brian Harvey said at a press conference.
Allen fire department chief Jon Boyd told the same press conference that his department took at least nine victims with gunshot wounds to area hospitals.
Two of those people died at the hospital, Boyd said at a second press conference Saturday night. Three of the victims were in critical condition and four others were stable.
Medical City Healthcare, which runs 16 hospitals in the area, said in a statement that its trauma centres were treating eight of the wounded victims, who ranged in age from 5 to 61.
Witnesses told The Associated Press they saw multiple victims, including some who appeared to be children, and they saw a police officer and a mall security guard who appeared to be unconscious on the ground.
An Allen Police officer was in the area on an unrelated call when the officer heard gunshots at Allen Premium Outlets 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."
US Representative Keith Self, who represents the area that includes the mall, said he had confirmed with law enforcement that the shooter was dead, and that there was no one else involved in the attack.
A crowd of hundreds of people who had been shopping stood outside, across the street from the mall, on Saturday evening. Officers circulated among them asking if anyone had seen what happened.
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," Mr Payton.
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, Mr 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, Mr Payton saw bodies.
"I pray it wasn't kids, but it looked like kids," he said. "It broke me when I walked out to see that."
The bodies were covered in white towels, slumped over bags on the ground, he said.
Further away, he saw the body of a heavy-set man wearing all black. He assumed it was the shooter, Mr Payton said, because unlike the other bodies it had not been covered up.
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 said. "I said, 'Was that gunfire?' "
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 there was a shooting.
As he left the store, Mr Romero said, the mall 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 mall, with multiple ambulances on the scene.
A live aerial broadcast from the news station showed armoured trucks and other law enforcement vehicles stationed outside the sprawling outdoor mall.
Ambulances from several neighbouring cities responded to the scene.
The Dallas office of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also responded.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, calling the shooting an "unspeakable tragedy," said in a written statement that the state was prepared to offer any assistance local authorities may need.
Allen, a suburb about 40 kilometres north of downtown Dallas, has roughly 105,000 residents.
ABC/Wires
