A hero cop who took down the Texas mall shooter made a frantic call for backup just moments before he shot dead the AR-15-armed gunman who killed eight people.
Children were among those killed during the shooting outside H&M in Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas at 3.30pm on Saturday.
The shooter was eventually killed by an unnamed cop – 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 how the police officer made a frantic phone call begging for his colleagues to join him on the scene, radioing: ‘I need everybody I got.’
He bravely ran towards the active shooter – who was armed with 60 rounds and had shot over a dozen people by this point – and killed him.
Around two minutes after first calling for backup, the cop said: ‘I got him down.’
The FBI have raided the dead suspect’s home following the civilian massacre.
Hundreds of shoppers were filed away from the H&M location after the gunman opened fire near the store. He was eventually killed by a heroic cop – however the gunman had already killed eight people
The shooting happened at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, a small suburb north of Dallas, and saw at least eight people killed
A stampede of hundreds of shoppers were seen racing out of the complex while gunfire rained out – as security and police attempted to shepherd them to safety.
People in the store were frantically ushered into lockable rooms, and when they eventually got the all-clear to come out, they saw the broken windows and trails of blood by the door.
Dashcam video showed the gunman getting out of a car and shooting at people on the sidewalk. More than three dozen shots could be heard as the vehicle that was recording the video drove off.
The gunman was using an AR-15-style gun during the mass shooting, and was dressed in full tactical SWAT gear.
Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd confirmed that seven people died at the scene, including the gunman, and then a further two victims died in hospital.
Three of the wounded were in critical condition in the evening, and four were stable, Boyd said in an update on Saturday night.
Fontayne Payton, 35, was at H&M when he heard the sound of gunshots through his headphones. He said: ‘It was so loud, it sounded like it was right outside.
‘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. ‘It broke me when I walked out to see that.’
Payton then saw the body of the dead shooter – which was the only one not covered, he recalled.
In a disturbing snippet, the gunman is seen laying dead outside another Allen store on a few dozen feet from the H&M. He is seen dressed in SWAT gear, with a semi-automatic rile at his side
Other footage and snaps taken at the scene, meanwhile, help piece together what exactly transpired at the outdoor mall – with the first shots being fired outside the H&M, before the gunman was killed by the unnamed Allen officer at a burger shop a few stores away
A law enforcement officer carries a rifle as people are evacuated from the shopping center
Mayor Ken Fulk said in a statement on Saturday night: ‘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 are grieving, we are grieving.
‘Allen is a proud and safe city which makes today’s senseless act of violence even more shocking. However, I want to commend our police and fire departments for their quick response.
‘Their thorough training not to hesitate to move toward the threat likely saved more lives today. We also want to thank all of our surrounding municipalities and law enforcement agencies for offering their assistance at the scene.
‘This collective effort is what makes our North Texas communities united.’
Witnesses have recalled the horrific moments they realized they were in the midst of a mass shooting – with one man, Steven Spainhouer, saying he rushed to desperately save a child who had been shot.
His own son was working at the H&M store when shots were fired.
Spainhouer told CBS News: ‘I never imagined in 100 years I would be thrust into the position of being the first first responder on the site to take care of people.
‘The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face.’
He said she was already beyond saving.
Still set on saving the mess of victims, 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 among eight to die by the gunman.
Spainhouer added: ‘When I rolled the mother over, he came out.
‘I asked him if he was OK and he said, “My mom is hurt, my mom is hurt.”
‘Rather than traumatize him any more, I pulled him around the corner sat him down and he was covered from head to toe. [It was] like somebody poured blood on him.’
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk