5 injured after a fleeing driver crashes into a JCPenney at a Texas mall, police say. The suspect is dead
By Zoe Sottile, Ashley R. Williams, Taylor Galgano and Sarah Dewberry, CNN
(CNN) — A man drove into a Texas mall after a 19-mile police pursuit, striking four people before he was fatally shot by responding law enforcement officers Saturday, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Law enforcement shot and killed the suspect after the chase led them into the Killeen Mall during the busy holiday shopping season, Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Bryan Washko said at a Saturday news conference.
The chase began when a Texas Highway Patrol trooper tried to stop a pickup truck around 5 p.m. CT in the Belton area after authorities got a call about the driver possibly being intoxicated, Washko said.
The suspect exited the highway and entered the Killeen Mall parking lot, where he drove through the glass doors of a JCPenney store’s main entrance, according to Washko.
The suspect “drove through the doors and continued to travel through the JCPenney store, striking multiple people,” he said.
Four people were injured by the pickup truck as it drove through the mall and were taken to a hospital while a fifth person went to the hospital on their own, Washko said. The victims range in age from 6 to 75 years old.
The truck traveled “several hundred yards” through the store as troopers and local police followed on foot and “engaged in gunfire to eliminate this threat,” Washko said.
“There’s people in here shopping for their families, their children, their friends, loved ones, and these kinds of things we don’t like to see, obviously, and we pray for their recovery,” Washko said of the victims.
Two off-duty officers who were at the mall with their families were among the law enforcement who opened fire to stop the driver, Washko said.
Witnesses describe chaos
Nathan Carrasco told CNN he was in his car with his friends in the Killeen Mall parking lot when they witnessed a truck drive through the JCPenney door and run over people.
Carrasco said two police vehicles chased the truck, and just before officers nearly cornered the truck, the truck drove through the department store.
Carrasco and his friends jumped out of the car to make sure everyone was OK, he said.
“There were people lying on the floor with glass everywhere,” Carrasco said, adding people rushed into the store to help a woman and a young girl who was bleeding.
Rose and Will Parker told CNN they were near the coffee shop near the JCPenney when they heard several gunshots and saw people running.
“I grabbed my wife, and we went into the coffee shop. We locked up in a back room,” Will Parker said.
They were in the coffee shop for about 15 minutes when a security guard escorted them out of the mall.
“It was a mess,” Parker said. “I’m thankful to the gentleman, the security guy, that helped us out.”
Authorities have yet to identify the suspect, according to Washko. “We need to find out who he was, where he’s coming from, why he’s running,” he said. “All those questions need to be answered.”
Killeen is about 70 miles north of Austin and is home to the Army’s Fort Cavazos, formerly Fort Hood.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
