El presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden, renovó su llamado el domingo para una prohibición nacional de armas de asalto y otras medidas de seguridad de armas, un día después de que ocho personas fueran asesinadas en un centro comercial de Texas en el último tiroteo masivo que sacudió a la nación.
Los socorristas, los testigos angustiados y la policía describieron escenas de pánico y horror al norte de Dallas, donde las imágenes de video que circulan en línea muestran al tirador saliendo de un sedán en el estacionamiento de un centro comercial el sábado y disparando con un rifle semiautomático a las personas que caminan cerca.
Un oficial en una llamada cercana no relacionada respondió rápidamente y “neutralizó” al tirador en la gran instalación en Allen, dijo la policía.
Seven people were pronounced dead at the scene, in addition to the shooter. Two other victims died in the hospital while “three are in critical surgery, and four are stable,” Allen fire chief Jonathan Boyd said Saturday.
Multiple US news outlets, all citing unnamed law enforcement sources, identified the shooter on Sunday as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia.
“Eight Americans — including children — were killed yesterday in the latest act of gun violence to devastate our nation,” Biden said in a statement Sunday morning.
He ordered US flags lowered to half-staff “as a mark of respect for the victims” and repeated his call for lawmakers to take action against a gun “epidemic.”
“Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” the 80-year-old Democrat said.
He also demanded lawmakers require universal background checks for gun purchases and end legal immunity for manufacturers’ whose weapons are used in attacks.
“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 other people 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 United States 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 political 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.”
- No ‘quick solution’ –
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.
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 permit-less 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.
- ‘Unfathomable’ carnage –
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.
Al encontrar a una víctima femenina en el suelo, “tomé su pulso, tiré de su cabeza hacia un lado y no tenía rostro”, dijo Spainhouer a CBS News. Encontró al hijo de otra víctima yaciendo vivo debajo de su madre muerta y “cubierto de pies a cabeza” en su sangre.
“Es simplemente insondable ver la carnicería”, dijo.
Con más armas de fuego que habitantes, Estados Unidos tiene la tasa más alta de muertes por armas de fuego de cualquier país desarrollado: 49.000 en 2021, frente a las 45.000 del año anterior.
© Agencia France-Presse
