Allen outlet mall shooter identified as 33-year-old man, senior law enforcement source tells CNN

Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, told Fox News Sunday that authorities need to find answers on what exactly led up to the deadly mass shooting at an Allen, Texas, outlet mall yesterday.

"There’s always telltale signs before, there’s indicators should have looked out for," he said.

Cuellar added that strict gun control measures have not ended mass shootings in blue states around the country, arguing more needs to be done to get to the root of the issue.

“People talk about just making the laws stricter. You’ve got to look at, you know, in states that are blue — very strict laws — you still get this type of mass shooting. So, it does happen across the nation and we have to get to the bottom of this,” he said.

Some context: The attack in Allen, Texas, is one of at least 199 mass shootings in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The archive, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people have been wounded or killed, excluding a gunman.

Texas has loosened restrictions on gun ownership in recent years amid several high-profile mass shootings that have devastated its communities. In 2021, legislation went into effect allowing most Texans who legally own a firearm to carry it openly in public without obtaining a permit or training.

A 2022 study found that states with weaker gun laws have higher rates of gun deaths, including homicides and suicides.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misidentified Rep. Henry Cuellar's political party. He is a Democrat.