Biden orders flags at half mast
President Joe Biden tidy Federal flags to be flown at half mast out of respect for the victims of the Allen shooting.
Eight people were killed at a Dallas-area shopping center Saturday night. Biden called the shootings «senseless acts of violence.»
Flags will be lowered to half mast at all US embassies, legations, consular offices, military and naval installations, among other facilities abroad.
Texas Congressman Suggests Prayers Are a Solution to Mass Shootings
Rep. Keith Self, the Republican lawmaker representing the district that includes the Allen area, drew criticism on social media after he appeared to dismiss new calls for gun control in the wake of the outlet mall shooting.
People who demand gun control, rather than strictly offering thoughts and prayers, «don’t believe in an all-powerful God … who is in complete control of our lives,» Self said on CNN.
“People want to make this political, but the prayers are important,” he said.
The comments were widely criticized by progressive political commentators and prominent advocates of gun control measures.
The Allen killings mark the seventh mass shooting in Texas since the Uvalde massacre.
Texas has been rocked by seven mass shootings since a gunman killed 21 people at an elementary school in the town of Uvalde in May 2022. according to a database Maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in association with Northeastern University.
In the 12 months since the Uvalde massacre, mass shootings have occurred in the Texas cities of Centerville, Houston, McGregor, Ft. Worth, Dallas, Cleveland and now Allen, where a gunman opened fire Saturday at a downtown commercial, according to the database.
In each shooting, at least four people were killed, the data shows. The death toll in Allen is the highest since the Uvalde murders, with eight people dead.
Governor Abbott, Senators Cornyn and Cruz react to the bloodshed
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement late Saturday calling the shooting an «unspeakable tragedy.» He said the hearts of Texans go out to the people of Allen.
Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz expressed their condolences:
Cruz opposes gun control measures, including bans on assault weapons. Cornyn was the lead sponsor of a bill last year that made modest changes to federal gun control regulations. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law in June; Cruz voted against the legislation.
Witness describes sound of shots, sight of bodies
Fontayne Payton was looking into the H&M clothing store in the mall when she heard the piercing sound of gunshots through her headphones.
“There was so much noise it was like I was outside,” Payton, 35, told The Associated Press.
Store employees led shoppers into fitting rooms and then into a back room with a locking door, Payton told the AP. When the group was given the go-ahead to leave, he saw broken windows and blood on the driveway.
When he came out, he saw bodies.
«I pray they weren’t children, but they looked like children,» he told the AP, recalling that the bodies were covered in white towels. «It broke me when I went out to see that.»