US President Joe Biden again urged Congress on Sunday to ban assault rifles after a shooter killed eight people including children at a mall in Texas.
Joe Biden denounced a “senseless act of violence” in a press release, and ordered the flags to be lowered above the White House and federal and military public buildings in tribute to the victims.
The US president also called again on Congress to ban assault rifles and put in place measures to restrict access to weapons.
“Too many families have empty chairs around their tables. Republican members of Congress cannot continue to respond to this epidemic with a shrug,” he lambasted.
But his appeal is unlikely to succeed because Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, are fiercely opposed to such measures.
This new massacre in the United States caused panic on Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets, a large shopping center in the city of Allen, some 40 kilometers north of Dallas, where many customers were shopping for the weekend.
A policeman was on the scene for another case when the shots rang out around 3:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m. GMT) and “neutralized” the suspect, said local police chief Brian Harvey.
The Texas Department of Public Safety on Sunday identified the shooter as Mauricio Garcia, a 33-year-old man from Dallas.
CCTV footage released by CNN shows the shooter getting out of a sedan in the shopping center parking lot and opening fire, without knowing his motive.
The man was dressed in paramilitary gear and had an assault rifle in his hand, the White House said.
“Allen is a safe and proud city, which makes this senseless act of violence even more shocking,” Allen Mayor Ken Fulk said.
Six people died on the spot and two others died in hospital. Among them were children, the White House said.
Three of the seven injured required emergency surgery, Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said.
It is the second deadliest shooting in the United States in 2023, after the Monterey Park shooting in California which left eleven dead in January.
State Governor Greg Abbott lamented an “unspeakable tragedy”. Texas is one of the most permissive US states when it comes to carrying guns.
According to the authorities, the rapid intervention of the police and firefighters made it possible to “save lives”.
Steven Spainhouer, ex-policeman and witness at the scene, explained that he had tried to revive several victims, including a woman, in vain.
“I tried to take her pulse, I turned her head to the side and she had no face,” he told CBS deeply moved.
The man says he also rescued a child who survived being protected by the body of his mother, who was killed. “He was covered from head to toe in blood, as if someone had poured it on him.”
“It’s a situation I wouldn’t wish on anyone. It’s just unimaginable to see such carnage,” he added.
This new drama is part of a close succession of killings, notably in Texas, where five people, including a 9-year-old child, were killed the previous weekend by a man armed with an assault rifle.
With more firearms than people, the United States has the highest firearm death rate of all developed countries: 49,000 in 2021, compared to 45,000 in 2020.
The specialized site Gun Violence Archive has already recorded more than 199 acts in the United States this year in which four or more people were injured or killed by gunshots.
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08/05/2023 03:30:05 – Washington (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
