According to media reports, the alleged shooter in the rampage in a shopping mall in the US state of Texas was a 33-year-old man. This was reported by the television channels CNN and Fox News on Sunday, citing investigators.

The "Washington Post" and the "Wall Street Journal" reported that the man had lived in a hotel in the area and had several weapons with him during the attack. More ammunition was found in the hotel. The investigators investigated, among other things, indications of a possible right-wing extremist background, both papers reported. However, the investigation is still in its infancy, and the motive of the perpetrator has not yet been conclusively clarified.

According to the Washington Post, the suspicion that there could be a right-wing extremist background is based on a patch with the abbreviation "RWDS" that the alleged perpetrator wore on his clothes. The acronym stands for "Right Wing Death Squad". The phrase is very popular with right-wing extremists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, the newspaper reported.

Children among the dead too

In a shooting spree in a busy shopping center in the city of Allen near Dallas, the suspected shooter had killed eight people on Saturday before he was shot by a police officer. Several people were injured.

US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that children were among the fatalities. Exact details about the victims were not initially known, nor about the background to the crime. At first, the local authorities revealed only sparse information. According to the president, the attacker used an AR-15 assault rifle in the attack. This weapon is particularly frequently used in mass shootings in the United States.

Biden called on members of Congress to take action against the "arms epidemic" in the country. "I once again call on Congress to submit to me a bill to ban offensive weapons and large-capacity magazines," the president said. "I'll sign it right away."

In the United States, there are repeated gun attacks with numerous fatalities. In 2021, about 49,000 people died from the use of firearms, compared to 45,000 the year before. Biden has long wanted to tighten gun laws. However, all attempts to do so have so far come to nothing and have often failed due to resistance from the opposition Republicans in Congress.

Texas is one of the states with the most lax gun laws. Just a week ago, a man in Texas shot and killed five people in a neighboring house after residents asked him to stop his evening shooting practice.