Sgt. Bryan Washko said the suspect crashed through the front doors of the JC Penney and drove through the mall running over multiple people.
KILLEEN, Texas — Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Bryan Washko said a person who drove through the Killeen mall Saturday night was shot and killed by authorities.
It started around 5 p.m. when a DPS trooper tried to pull over a person driving a black truck near the intersection of I-35 and I-14 in Belton. He refused to stop and eventually exited I-14 and drove into the Killeen parking lot and through the front doors of the JC Penney, Washko said.
Washko said a DPS trooper and Killeen Police Officer ran after the suspect as he drove several hundred yards into the mall, running over multiple people.
Four people were taken to the hospital with injuries ranging from severe to minor, Washko said. A fifth person took themself to the hospital. Washko said their ages ranged from as young as 6 to 75-year-old.
Washko said officers from DPS, Killeen police and three other agencies “engaged in gunfire” with the suspect.
“We had DPS, Killeen Police Department and three other local agencies, officers that were off duty that were in the Killeen mall that neutralized the suspect and kept him from harming and possibly killing any more people,” Washko said.
News of the incident quickly spread on social media with some people claiming there was an active shooter, which Washko was quick to dispel.
“First of all let me just reiterate this is not an active shooter,” Washko said. “There’s a lot of chatter going online that it was first came out as an active shooter. So, we’ll go ahead and squash that. That did not happen.”
The suspect was not identified Saturday night.
“We don’t know who this guy is,” Washko said. “We don’t know what he’s going through. We don’t know if there’s something going on that this was an intentional act or he’s just out of desperation because he was being pursued. Those things are going to come out in the investigation with the Rangers.”
Washko said their investigation would continue through the night and that the mall would be closed. He said the management for the mall would determine when it would open again.