Houston Mall Shooting: Nine Injured, Suspect Dead
Just days following the mall attacks in Washington state and Minnesota, a Houston attorney open fired in a strip mall parking lot injuring nine people before he was killed by police.
Capt. D.W. Ready said the shooter, identified later as Attorney Nathan DeSai, was dressed in some kind of military uniform and had Nazi emblems with him when he started the attack on random people passing through the parking lot.
The Bellaire Police Department and the West University Police Department responded with the Houston police to the report of an active shooter around 6:30 a.m. at the strip mall. Nine officers engaged the gunman in a gunfight while others assisted the wounded citizens, Ready said. The gunman attempted to take cover behind a tree before he was shot and killed.
More than 75 expended shell casings were found at the scene, and the gunman had 2,600 rounds of ammunition for his .45-caliber pistol and .45-caliber Thompson carbine rifle, which carried a 40-round clip, Ready said.
Police have said DeSai was the lone gunman who was disgruntled over matters at the law firm where he worked, according to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
An emergency alert went out to the citizens of Houston as the parking lot became a crime scene and a triage unit for the victims in the mass shooting.
One person was critically wounded and another was seriously wounded, the other seven will survive will non-life threatening injuries.