Driver killed by police after driving truck through Texas mall, injuring 5

KILLEEN, Texas (KXAN) — A operator was changeable and killed by instrumentality enforcement officers aft driving a motortruck into a engaged promenade connected Saturday night, injuring 5 people, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

At astir 5 p.m., a DPS trooper tried to halt a achromatic pickup motortruck aft a 911 caller reported a imaginable intoxicated operator successful Belton, astir 20 miles from Killeen. The operator refused to stop, prompting a chase, DPS explained during a Saturday nighttime property conference.

The pickup past turned into the parking batch of the Killeen Mall, astir 70 miles northbound of Austin, earlier driving into the building, striking radical arsenic it went.

“The fishy drove done the doors and continued to thrust done the JCPenney store, striking aggregate people,” Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety said successful an evening quality briefing. “The trooper and the Killeen constabulary serviceman continued connected ft aft this vehicle, which was driving done the store, actively moving radical over. He traveled respective 100 yards.”

At slightest 5 radical were injured by the vehicle, according to DPS. Four victims were taken to country hospitals, portion different traveled to a infirmary separately. They ranged successful property from 6 to 75 years aged and their conditions were not instantly known, Washko said.

Troopers and Killeen Police officers followed the motortruck into the promenade connected foot, linking up with off-duty officers from 3 different section agencies.

Officers from the authorities nationalist information department, Killeen, and the off-duty officers “engaged successful gunfire to destruct this threat,” Washko said. The Texas Rangers volition analyse the shooting.

Washko did not person accusation astir the suspect's individuality astatine the clip of the briefing.

A nationalist accusation serviceman for DPS said posts sharing misinformation dispersed rapidly online successful the midst of the incident, including respective seen by Nexstar's KXAN that claimed determination was an progressive shooter wrong the Killeen Mall.

At astir 6 p.m. Killeen Police said connected Facebook that determination was nary progressive shooter successful the mall, adding that portion the promenade and surrounding country were "secure," the nationalist should debar it.

Daniel Bartlett was astatine enactment astatine JC Penney erstwhile the incidental happened. He said helium was successful the store's backroom erstwhile helium heard gunshots and ran into the store to assistance radical get out, not knowing what happened.

"It's, it's lone what, 4 days till Christmas? And truthful there's a batch of shoppers, and, you know, there's a batch of radical that are running," Bartlett explained. "There's lone 2 entrances to get out, and truthful radical are moving retired the salon entrance, and I go, and I clasp the doorway unfastened to assistance radical retired due to the fact that radical are panicking."

"I didn't cognize idiosyncratic drove done our store. All I knew is that determination was gunshots."

Bartlett told KXAN helium besides helped radical get into a harmless country wrong the store bureau earlier returning to the buying floor, and that's erstwhile helium saw the destruction.

"So I get retired determination and I'm looking for co-workers, and that's erstwhile I spot the destruction. It is cleanable through."

Bartlett said he'd ne'er seen thing similar it.

"I don't know. I truly don't. It's conscionable ... you ne'er expect thing similar this to happen, and the champion you tin bash is enactment calm."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.