Texans pay respect to victims of the Allen Outlet Mall shooting

ALLEN, Texas (KXII) - An emotional scene at Allen Outlet Mall.

People are paying their respects to the victims of Saturday’s shooting.

Some were here that day, and others are here to mourn.

“I’ve never experienced that in my life. We heard that on the news all the time, but I never thought that I’m going to experience it,” Allen resident, Ryan Riyad.

Saturday, May 7th, another mass shooting in the U.S

A gunman opens fire at Allen Outlet Mall, killing 8 people, and wounding 7 others.

Riyad said he was just trying to pass time after dropping his daughter and wife off at a birthday party.

“So, I came here around probably 3:00. It was so jam packed on that day. It was absolutely no parking. I circled twice in front of H&M and Express. I couldn’t find a parking,” Riyad explained.

So, he left.

A decision that may have saved his life.

Minutes after leaving, shots rang out at the mall.

“I thought that was like, either a construction thing going on or a car, something the tire blown off or something,” Riyad said.

As he returns to the mall to pay respect to the victims, Riyad said he refuses to let Saturday’s close call make him live in fear.

“My daughter is 8 years old. I would like to give her a normal world, normal society and everything. So, no, we’re not going to live with the fear that something’s going to happen to us,” Riyad replied.

According to research by Gun Violence Archive, Saturday’s shooting was the 199th mass shooting of 2023.

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