News Wrap: Police identify shooter who killed 8 at Texas outlet mall

In our news wrap Sunday, a gunman killed eight people at a mall in suburban Dallas, an SUV drove through a crowd at a bus stop in Brownsville, Texas, killing seven, more than 100 wildfires are forcing evacuations in western Canada, seven horses died in the days before the Kentucky Derby, and a task force approved a proposal for California to pay reparations to descendants of enslaved Black people.

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  • John Yang:

    Good evening. I'm John Yang. Tonight, another American community is grappling with the aftermath of another mass shooting. This time, it was at an outlet mall and outside Dallas, Texas. A gunman identified as 33-year -old Mauricio Garcia killed eight people and wounded seven others before a police officer killed him. Three of the wounded are in critical condition. None of the victims has been publicly identified yet. The oldest is said to be 61 years old, the youngest just five years old.

    Shoppers scurried for safety as the gunman opened fire during a busy shopping day in the middle of Texas's high school prom and graduation season.

  • Cole Korchek:

    Out of nowhere heard about like ten pops go off and we see the guy there's this guy dressing all black, wearing a vest, has an assault rifle, and he's just shooting at people.

  • John Yang:

    Witnesses said they heard dozens of rounds fired.

  • Eber Romero, Mall Shooting Witness:

    Soon I get out of the store, the Gulf City like, I don't see nobody. I keep walking. Everybody like all doors were locked.

  • John Yang:

    A police officer was at the mall for an unrelated incident. He heard the gunfire and rushed to the scene where he shot and killed the gunman. Then in an all too familiar picture bystanders their hands up were led away as police secured the area store by store.

    According to the gun safety group, Everytown more people have been killed in mass shootings in Texas than in any other state. Barely a week ago, five people were killed after asking a neighbor to stop firing a gun because a baby was sleeping. And just weeks away is the one year anniversary of the Uvalde School shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

    Texas officials reject suggestions it has anything to do with the state's relatively lenient gun laws. Governor Greg Abbott today on Fox news Sunday.

    Gov. Greg Abbott (R) Texas: We need to recognize a reality, what we've seen across the United States over the past year or two, and that is an increased number of shootings in both red states and blue states, in states with easy gun laws, as well as states with very strict gun laws.

  • John Yang:

    As the tragic cycle of gun violence touches yet another U. S. Community.

    According to the Gun Violence Archive, this was this year's 20th U.S. mass murder in which four or more people were killed.

    In Brownsville, Texas, on the Mexican border, police say an SUV plowed through a crowd waiting at a city bus stop, killing seven people and injuring at least 10 others. The bus stop is outside a migrant center, and the center's director says most of the victims were Venezuelan men. The driver was arrested, and police are trying to figure out whether it was intentional or an accident.

    Hot, dry, and windy conditions in western Canada are fueling more than 100 wildfires, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate from their homes. The province of Alberta is under a state of emergency. Fires there have destroyed 20 homes. Canada's wildfire agency says dozens of fires are still out of control. Evacuations have also been ordered in parts of neighboring British Columbia.

    Last night's Kentucky Derby, which was won by Mage, ended an agonizing week at Louisville's Churchill Downs. Seven horses died in the days leading up to the Derby, including two that suffered life ending injuries in races yesterday. It's more bad news for the embattled racing industry.

    Animal rights advocates are pressing to do away with it all together, and online sports betting is eating into racetrack's revenues.

    And California is one step closer to being the first state to pay reparations to the descendants of African Americans who are enslaved. A special task force voted to recommend that the state legislature approve the plan, which would include a formal apology for slavery.

    Payments would also compensate eligible African American California residents for health disparities, mass incarceration, and housing discrimination.

    Still to come on "PBS News Weekend," how language translation technology is causing problems for Afghan asylum, refuge seekers, and the native Hawaiian who blazed a trail in surfing and swimming.

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