WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden renewed his call Sunday for an assault-weapons ban and other gun safety measures a day after eight people were murdered at a Texas shopping mall in the latest "senseless" shooting to shake the nation.
Responders, distressed witnesses and police described scenes of panic and horror north of Dallas, where video footage circulating online showed the shooter exiting a sedan in an outlet mall parking lot Saturday and firing with a semi-automatic rifle on people walking nearby.
An officer inside on an unrelated call quickly responded and "neutralized" the shooter at the large facility in Allen, police said.
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Twenty hours after the tragedy the identity of the heavily armed gunman had yet to be released and no motive was put forward.
The suspect's body, sprawled on a sidewalk, was one of seven at the mall when more police arrived. Two other victims died in the hospital while "three are in critical surgery, and four are stable," Allen fire chief Jonathan Boyd said Saturday.
Biden released a proclamation Sunday "as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence" in Allen. He ordered US flags be lowered to half staff.
But he also called on Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban he helped pass in 1994 when he was a senator, but which lapsed in 2004; ban high-capacity magazines; require universal background checks for gun purchasers, and end immunity for gun manufacturers.
"I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe," Biden said in a statement.
The attack is the latest in an alarming trajectory of deadly US gun violence. Barely a week earlier, a man shot and killed five neighbors in Cleveland, Texas after one of them asked him to stop firing his rifle in his yard at night while a baby slept.
Several Americans have also been gunned down in recent weeks over petty disputes or common mistakes, such as knocking on the wrong door or getting into the wrong car.
Awash in firearms, the country has already endured 199 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a non-governmental organization which defines a mass shooting as four or more people wounded or killed.
"Too many families have empty chairs at their dinner tables," Biden said, as he berated his opponents for inaction.
"Republican members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug," he said. "Tweeted thoughts and prayers are not enough."
The gunfire at Allen Premium Outlets, 35 miles (55 kilometers) north of Dallas, erupted Saturday afternoon when it was busy with weekend shoppers, police said.
The officer in the mall "heard gunshots, went to the gunshots, engaged the suspect and neutralized the suspect," said chief Brian Harvey of the Allen police department.
Biden joined local officials in hailing the quick actions of police for likely saving lives.
Victims ranged in age from five to 61, a hospital official told NBC News.
The police chief later said authorities believe the unidentified shooter "acted alone." CNN showed a cropped photograph of the apparent gunman dead on the ground, wearing tactical gear with extra magazines, and with an AR-15-style rifle at his side.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the shooting an "unspeakable tragedy."
But on Sunday, as Democrats repeated calls for Congress to enact gun safety legislation and blasted Texas and other states for allowing permitless carry of firearms, the Republican governor refused to be drawn on whether restricting guns was an answer.
"People want a quick solution. The long-term solution is to address the mental health issue" including the increased "anger and violence" in America, he told Fox News Sunday.
Steven Spainhouer, a former police officer, said he was confronted with horrific images when he rushed to the scene and performed CPR on victims before emergency responders arrived.
Finding one female victim on the ground, "I felt for her pulse, pulled her head to the side, and she had no face," Spainhouer told CBS News. He found the son of another victim lying alive under his dead mother and "covered head to toe" in her blood.
"It's just unfathomable to see the carnage," he said.
With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country -- 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before.
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