A gunman stepped out of a silver car and started Shooting people at an outlet mall in Texas on Saturday, killing eight and wounding seven others — three critically — before being shot dead by a Police Officer.

Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said seven people including the shooter died at Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling outdoor shopping centre. Nine victims were taken to hospital, but two of them died.

Three of the wounded were in critical condition in the evening, Mr Boyd said, and four were stable.

Witnesses reported seeing children among the victims. Some said they also saw what appeared to be a police officer and a mall security guard unconscious on the ground.

The shooting in Allen, a town about 40km north of downtown Dallas, is the latest in a spate of mass killings in the US.

Maxwell Gum, 16, a pretzel stand employee, described a wave of fleeing shoppers. He and others sheltered in a storage room.

“We started running. Kids were getting trampled,” he said. “My co-worker picked up a four-year-old girl and gave her to her parents.”

Dashcam video that circulated online showed the gunman getting out of a car and shooting at people on the pavement. More than three dozen shots could be heard as the vehicle recording the video drove off.

An Allen Police officer was in the area on an unrelated call when he heard shots at 3.36pm, the police department said on Facebook.

“The officer engaged the suspect and neutralised the threat. He then called for emergency personnel,” it said.

Mass killings are happening with staggering frequency in the US this year: an average of about one a week, according to a database maintained by AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the shooting and the administration had offered support to local officials.

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has signed laws easing firearms restrictions following past mass shootings, called it an “unspeakable tragedy”.

Fontayne Payton, 35, was at H&M when he heard the sound of gunshots through his headphones.

“It was so loud, it sounded like it was right outside,” Mr Payton said.

People in the store scattered before employees ushered the group into the fitting rooms and then a lockable back room, he said. When they were given the all-clear to leave, Mr Payton saw the store had broken windows and a trail of blood to the door. Discarded sandals and bloodied clothes lay nearby.

Once outside, he saw bodies.

“I pray it wasn’t kids, but it looked like kids,” Mr Payton said. The bodies were covered in white towels, slumped over bags on the ground.

“It broke me when I walked out to see that,” he said.

Further away, he saw the body of a heavyset man wearing all black. He assumed it was the shooter, Mr Payton said, because unlike the other bodies it had not been covered up.

Tarakram Nunna, 25, and Ramakrishna Mullapudi, 26, said they saw what appeared to be three people motionless on the ground, including one who appeared to be a police officer and one who appeared to be a mall security guard.

Another shopper, Sharkie Mouli, 24, said he hid in a Banana Republic store during the shooting. As he left, he saw what appeared to be an unconscious police officer lying next to another unconscious person outside the outlet store.

“I have seen his gun lying right next to him and a guy who is like passing out right next to him,” Mr Mouli said.

Stan and Mary Ann Greene were browsing in the Columbia sportswear store when the shooting started.

“We had just gotten in, just a couple minutes earlier, and we just heard a lot of loud popping,” Ms Greene told AP.

Employees rolled down the security gate and brought everyone to the rear of the store until police arrived and escorted them out, they said.

Eber Romero was at the Under Armour store when a cashier mentioned that there was a shooting.

As he left the store, Mr Romero said, the mall appeared empty, and all the shops had their security gates down. That is when he started seeing broken glass and people who had been shot on the floor.

Video shared on social media showed people running through a car park amid the sound of gunshots.

More than 30 police cars with lights flashing were blocking an entrance to the mall, with several ambulances on the scene.

A live aerial broadcast from a news station showed armoured lorries and other police vehicles outside the mall.

Updated: May 07, 2023, 4:55 AM