A heroic cop who rushed to take down the suspected gunman at a Texas outlet mall Saturday had frantically radioed for backup moments before he confronted and killed the shooter.
The officer was responding to an unrelated call nearby when he heard shots fired by the mall’s H&M store, according to audio of the call obtained by The Daily Mail.
“I need everybody I got” was the officer’s initial message over the police radio system as he ran toward the rifle-toting gunman. Two minutes after sending that first message, the cop got on the horn again to say that “I got him down.”
The shooter was identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, according to police sources who spoke with KDFW, the local Fox affiliate for the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Mr. Garcia is accused of killing eight people — six who died on the scene, and another two who died in the hospital later — before the responding officer brought his rampage to an end.
Police said that an additional seven people were injured during the shooting.
Medical City Healthcare said in a statement Sunday afternoon that six victims are still being treated at their facilities, three of whom are in critical condition.
Shooting victims range from 5 to 61 years old.
The mayhem began around 3:30 p.m. at the Allen Premium Outlets when the gunman started opening fire on shoppers. Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Mr. Garcia was armed with a rifle and a handgun and was wearing a tactical vest during the shooting.
“We were outside the Converse store and we just heard all this popping,” Elaine Penicaro, who was shopping with her daughter, told KDFW. “We kind of all just stopped, and then a second later, just ’Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,’ and there were sparks flying like it was right in front of us.”
One person told the station that they heard 30 gunshots in succession.
Shopper Abu Akther said he helped a woman who had been shot in the H&M.
“That’s when she said, ‘I don’t know why I am shot. What is going on?’ And I saw blood pouring out of her stomach,” Mr. Akther told KDFW.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from the mall in the aftermath of the shooting, according to KXAS-TV. Police said it may be up to 24 hours before people will be allowed to access their cars in the mall’s parking lot.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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