A heroic cop who took down the Texas mall shooter issued a frantic appeal for help moments before shooting the AR-15-armed gunman who killed eight people.
Children were among those killed in the shooting outside H&M at Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
The gunman was eventually killed by an unnamed officer – who was on the scene for an unrelated call, but rushed over when he heard the gunshots outside the H&M.
But new audio footage has now revealed the police officer making a frantic phone call, begging his colleagues to join him at the scene, radioing, “I need everyone I’ve got.”
He bravely ran up to the active gunner – who was armed with 60 rounds and had shot more than a dozen people at the time – and killed him.
About two minutes after he first called for backup, the officer said, “I got him.” Minutes later, another voice comes on the radio saying, “We have casualties, I need an ambulance.”
The FBI raided the home of the dead suspect after the civilian massacre.
Hundreds of customers were turned away from the H&M location after the gunman opened fire near the store. He was eventually killed by a heroic cop, but the shooter had already killed eight people
The shooting took place at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, a small suburb north of Dallas, killing at least eight people.
A stampede of hundreds of shoppers was seen running out of the complex as gunfire rained down – as security and police tried to pull them to safety.
People in the store were frantically led into lockable rooms, and when they were finally allowed to come out, they saw the broken windows and traces of blood near the door.
Dashcam footage showed the gunman getting out of a car and shooting at people on the sidewalk. More than three dozen shots were heard as the vehicle recording the video drove away.
The shooter used an AR-15 style weapon during the mass shooting and was dressed in full tactical SWAT gear.
Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd van Allen confirmed that seven people died at the scene, including the gunman, and then two more victims died in hospital.
Three of the injured were in critical condition by evening and four were stable, Boyd said in an update Saturday night.
Fontayne Payton, 35, was at H&M when he heard the sound of gunfire through his headphones. He said, ‘It was so loud, it sounded like it was outside.
“I pray they weren’t kids, but they looked like kids,” he said.
The bodies were covered with white towels and lay over bags on the floor. “It broke me when I walked out to see that.”
Payton then saw the dead gunman’s body – that was the only one not covered, he recalled.
In a disturbing clip, the gunman is seen dead outside another Allen store a few dozen yards from the H&M. He is seen dressed in SWAT gear, with a semi-automatic rifle at his side
Other footage and snaps taken at the scene, meanwhile, are helping to uncover exactly what happened inside the open-air mall – with the initial shots fired outside H&M, before the gunman was killed by the unnamed Allen officer in a burger shop a few shops away
A law enforcement officer carries a rifle as people are evacuated from the mall
Mayor Ken Fulk said in a statement Saturday evening, “Today is a tragic day for the City of Allen, our citizens, our friends and visitors who were at the Allen Premium Outlets. We know you grieve, we grieve.
Allen is a proud and safe town that makes today’s senseless violence all the more shocking. I do want to compliment our police and fire brigade for their quick response.
Their thorough training to not hesitate to face the threat probably saved more lives today. We would also like to thank all of our surrounding municipalities and law enforcement agencies for their assistance on the ground.
“This collective effort unites our North Texas communities.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott described the shooting as an “unspeakable tragedy.”
Witnesses recall the horrifying moments when they realized they were in the middle of a mass shooting — one man, Steven Spainhouer, said he was rushing desperately to save a child who had been shot.
His own son was working at the H&M store when the shooting happened.
Spainhouer told CBS News, “I never thought in 100 years I would be pushed into the position of being the first responder on the site to take care of people.
“The first girl I walked up to was crouching with her head covered in the bushes, so I felt a pulse, pulled her head to the side, and she had no face.”
He said she was already beyond saving.
Still determined to save the victims’ mess, Spainhouer recalled how he then found another child, who survived the barrage of bullets by being covered by his protective mother, who he said was one of was the eight killed by the shooter.
Spainhouer added: ‘When I turned the mother around, he came out.
“I asked him if he was okay and he said, ‘My mother is hurt, my mother is hurt.’
“Instead of traumatizing him even more, I pulled him around the corner and set him down and he was covered from head to toe. (It was) as if someone poured blood on him.’
