begin any moment now, here is what we know so far at this hour. police say that they received reports of an active shooter, just at the 30 pm local time, and according to authorities, at least nine people have been hospitalized. the shooter now that, we re being told, there are multiple fatalities, but police have not yet released an exact count. perhaps, we ll get some insight varying this briefing. however, they have confirmed that there is no longer an active threat in the area. let s go to nbc s morgan chesky, he s on the ground for us right outside the premium all there in on texas. morgan, we ve been checking in with you regularly since the tragedy unfolded, what more can you tell us? yeah, amen, there s that remains incredibly large law enforcement presence here surrounding the entire perimeter of the mall with more than 120 stores. as we await to hear the update from the police chief of allen texas, i can tell you that we are hearing more than stories about how it p
nine people have been taken away or being treated in area hospitals. the fatalities still unknown at this time, although we heard from multiple witnesses here at the mall, a man, that they have seen multiple bodies on the premise, a horrific update to come for authorities. in the meantime, there has been certainly a fair amount of not just shock but frustration and even anger as a result of what took place here today, a man. i want you to hear from another person who is here at the mall, shut up like so many others to do a saturday shopping trip, only to witness what took place, take a listen. it was terrifying. i just want to go. honestly, move out, honestly. it s not safe anymore. school shouldn t, public safety. i don t feel safe. and as we wait to hear from
and neutralize that there? i know, according to witnesses that spoke to, they were hiding in back rooms and dressing rooms and bathrooms throughout this entire massive property for at least half an hour before they were given the all clear from police officers who were very carefully making their way through this entire 180 storm mall become sure everyone was accounted for and that there was not an additional threat. as you can imagine, a man, when gunshots rang out, a multitude of rumors ensued, some of the people walking of property today we re asking our crew have you heard about multiple shooters that were present? fortunately, a lot of those rumors and doubts have been answered tonight by authorities, however still, so many questions left to be answered in the days ahead, i mean? a lot of very important questions. morgan chesky, thank you so much. secretary castro, i have covered, sadly i have covered a lot of mass shootings in this
a lot of horsemen here in just a few minutes, for details are coming to light. i think one important note here is that there were rumors almost immediately as the gunshots began circulating on social media, among those people inside the mall, that the shooter was wearing some sort of body armor and appeared to look like a potential police officer. that is why, elise from the perspective of miss perez, who we spoke to, she said that they were almost hesitant, even potentially fearful that when police finally showed up to rescue them, they doubted that they were actually the good guys, in that situation because of the description of the gunman that had gone out, and that he was just in a very tactical manner, per se. morgan, really quickly, and i don t know if you re familiar with the severe, but can you describe a little bit of allen, texas. if you re familiar with the, it sounds like there is a little bit of a busy traffic there behind you.
law enforcement to make sure that they are putting out truthful, accurate correct information, and that we are not stopping their ability to do their job. i think that we just had to be patient and give them the benefit of the doubt with respect to why they may or may not have released the information earlier. that s a very fair point. dr. andrews, i wanted to get your thoughts on something we discussed earlier on in our coverage, and that was a few hours ago, as the tragedy was coming into light, and we are getting more clarity on it. when you think about how prevalent issues are in this country, at least a shooting a day now, millions and millions of americans are living in a state of fear about where we re going to go, what time i am sure that we have all walked around a mall or movie theater and knocked around our salute to try to scoop the place our case the pace and thinking, where will i run? what happens if something like this happens? you have these conversations with thei