Allen, 7 May 2023 (dpa/MIA) - A gunman fatally shot eight people and wounded seven others Saturday at a suburban Dallas mall before being killed by a police officer.

In dashcam video circulated widely online, a person is seen getting out of a silver sedan in the parking lot of the mall in Allen, Texas. Leaving the driver’s door open, the shooter opens fire at people on the pavement at the Allen Premium Outlets mall.

Dozens of shots can be heard as the gunman approaches the shoppers and the vehicle recording the footage slowly drives away.

Allen police said an officer nearby on an unrelated call heard the gunfire just after 3:30 pm, “engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat” and then called for emergency responders.

The shooter, who police said acted alone, was one of seven people declared dead on scene.

At a news conference late Saturday, Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said of those hospitalized, three people are in critical condition and four others are stable. No additional information about the victims was released.

Authorities did not release any information about the gunman or the officer.

Allen police said a number of law-enforcement agencies helped secure the scene of the shooting and that there was no longer an active threat Saturday evening.

After the massacre, hundreds of people could be seen leaving the mall in footage from a news helicopter, many of them with their hands up. Outside an H&M store, at least four white tarps could be seen beside what appeared to be blood on the concrete.

A crowd of at least 500 huddled close together near a police blockade about an hour later. Some waited to reunite with family members while others had been nearby and were wondering what was happening.

As a crowd waited on the side of the road, a child clung to a man sitting in the grassy area. The group was so large it spilled into traffic lanes that were blocked off by law enforcement as police tried to move them off of the street.

Bobby and Deirdra Gordon, husband and wife from Arkansas, had just walked into the Banana Republic when the shooting took place. Deirdra Gordon said “all of a sudden you heard ‘pow pow pow.’”

They saw everyone running away and sheltered in the back of the store until police ordered them to be escorted out.

”They had us slowly walk out of the store with our hands up,” Deirdra Gordon said.

Once they exited, the couple said they saw three bodies on a sidewalk. Bobby Gordon said he saw bullet holes in the window of another store, along with a wounded man being carried out of a restaurant.

“Literally we would’ve been standing out there, one or two minutes earlier we would’ve been in the middle of it,” Deirdra Gordon said.

The mall, about 55 kilometres north of Dallas, is owned by Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, which could not be immediately reached for comment. With 120 stores, it’s one of the busiest shopping centers in North Texas and sits at an intersection that’s a destination for shoppers.

Photo: MIA archive