Casualties in Texas as gun violence continues to bedevil US

A shooter has opened fire at an outlet mall north of Dallas in Texas state and emergency officials confirmed nine deaths, including the gunman, and said many wounded people were rushed to area hospitals.

"[We] found seven deceased individuals on scene. We transported nine individuals to the hospital... Of those we transported, two have since died," said fire chief Jonathan Boyd of Allen, the Dallas suburb where the shooting took place.

Some of the victims in Saturday's shooting were as young as five years old, US-broadcaster CNN reported.

The gunman, whom authorities said they believe acted alone, was killed by a police officer after he began firing outside of the Allen Premium Outlets mall, the city's police chief Brian Harvey said at a press conference.

Authorities initially thought there might be a second shooter at Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling shopping complex in the city of Allen, 40 kilometres north of Dallas, CNN said.

Police combed through stores in the mall, and photos and drone video from the scene showed shoppers and store employees rushing into parking lots.

Video footage from local media showed police officers hurrying shoppers out of the mall, with squad cars and emergency vehicles parked near entryways.

Blood could be seen on sidewalks outside the mall and white sheets covering what appeared to be bodies.

Dashcam video that circulated online showed a gunman step out of a vehicle outside the mall and immediately start shooting at people on the sidewalk. More than three dozen shots could be heard as the vehicle recording the video drove off.

Witnesses who were at the Allen Premium Outlets told The Associated Press they saw multiple victims, including some who appeared to be children, and that they saw a police officer and a mall security guard who appeared to be unconscious on the ground.

Nearly 200 mass shootings since January

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," Payton said.

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, 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, Payton saw bodies. "I pray it wasn't kids, but it looked like kids," he said. The bodies were covered in white towels, slumped over bags on the ground, he said.

"It broke me when I walked out to see that," he said. Further away, he saw the body of a heavyset man wearing all black. He assumed it was the shooter, Payton said, because unlike the other bodies it had not been covered up.

The White House said President Biden had been briefed on the shooting and that the administration had offered support to local officials.

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has signed laws easing firearms restrictions following past mass shootings, called it an "unspeakable tragedy."

With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country — 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before.

Mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States, with at least 198 so far in 2023, the most at this point in the year since at least 2016, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

The nonprofit group defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not including the shooter.