Injuries were reported at Killeen Shopping Center after a police chase

KILLEEN, Texas – Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Bryan Washko said a person driving through the Killeen Mall Saturday night was shot and killed by authorities.

It started around 5 p.m. when a DPS trooper attempted to stop a person driving a black truck near the intersection of I-35 and I-14 in Belton. He refused to stop and eventually exited I-14, driving into the Killeen parking lot and through the front doors of the JC Penney, Washko said.

Washko said a DPS trooper and a Killeen police officer chased after the suspect as he drove several hundred meters into the mall, hitting several people.

Four people were taken to the hospital with serious to minor injuries, Washko said. A fifth person went to the hospital themselves. Washko said their ages ranged from 6 to 75 years old.

Washko said officers from DPS, Killeen police and three other agencies “shotgunned” the suspect.

“We had DPS, Killeen police and three other local agencies, off-duty officers who were at the Killeen mall neutralizing the suspect and stopping him from injuring and possibly killing more people,” Washko said .

News of the incident quickly spread on social media. Some people claimed there was an active shooter, which Washko quickly denied.

“First, I want to reiterate that this is not an active shooter,” Washko said. “There’s a lot of talk on the internet about how it first came out as an active shooter. So we go ahead and suppress that. That didn’t happen.”

The suspect could not be identified Saturday evening.

“We don’t know who this guy is,” Washko said. “We don’t know what he’s going through. We don’t know if this was a deliberate act or if he was just desperate because he was being persecuted. These things will come to light as the Rangers investigate.”

Washko said their investigation would continue through the night and the mall would be closed. He said the mall’s management will decide when it will reopen.