Mr. Jones said a stranger ran toward his car and motioned to let him inside, and then the two drove away.
“As soon as I heard the shots and people yelling, I didn’t wait to see what was going on, I backed out and got out of there,” he said.
Four hours after the shooting, the police began to allow some people to retrieve their cars that were left behind at the outlet. Others, whose cars had been parked closer to the crime scene, would have to wait until tomorrow.
Representative Keith Self, a Republican who represents Allen, Texas, said on CNN that critics who are calling for more than “thoughts and prayers” after Saturday’s shooting “don’t believe in almighty God, who is absolutely in control of our lives.” Instead, he said, the country’s lack of “mental health institutions” is to blame.
“Really I would like to stay away from the politics today because I want to focus on the victims, today we should be focused on the families,” he said. “Prayers are important and they are important in the families that are devastated right now.”
In a statement, Kris Brown, the president of Brady, the gun violence prevention organization, noted the long list of shootings in a short week.
“A house, a doctors’ office, and now a mall,” he said. “These horrific tragedies are occurring with increasing regularity and it’s clear there’s no place in this country where Americans are safe from gun violence. But this will continue to be our reality unless and until the U.S. changes its relationship with guns and our lawmakers finally answer to the American people, not the gun lobby.”
