Police ID Driver of Truck That Plowed Into Texas Mall

UPDATE Dec 23, 2024 1:30 AM CST

Authorities have identified a pickup truck driver who, while fleeing police, careened through the doors of a JCPenney store at a busy Texas mall, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by officers, the AP reports. John Darrel Schultz, 53, of Kempner drove a truck and crashed into the department store in Killeen, about 70 miles north of the state capital Austin, on Saturday afternoon and continued into the building, striking people as he went, according to Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Schultz had a DUI conviction on his record from 2022, KCEN-TV reports.

Dec 22, 2024 7:39 AM CST

A pickup truck driver fleeing police careened through the doors of a JCPenney store in Texas and continued through a busy mall, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by officers, per the AP. The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, about 68 miles north of the state capital Austin, around 5:30pm Saturday and continued into the building, striking people as it went, said Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety. Emergency medical services transported four victims from the mall to area hospitals and another traveled to a hospital separately. They ranged in age from 6 to 75 years old, and their conditions were not immediately known, he said.

The chase began around 5pm on Interstate 14 in Belton, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Killeen, after authorities received calls about an erratic driver in a black pickup, Ofelia Miramontez of the Killeen Police Department said. The driver then pulled off the road and drove into the parking lot of the mall. "The suspect drove through the doors and continued to drive through the JCPenney store, striking multiple people," Washko said. "The trooper and the Killeen police officer continued on foot after this vehicle, which was driving through the store, actively running people over. He traveled several hundred yards."

story continues below

Officers from the state public safety department, Killeen and three other law enforcement agencies "engaged in gunfire to eliminate this threat," Washko said. One of the officers who traded gunfire with the suspect was working as a security guard at the mall and others were off duty, he said. Washko did not have information about the suspect's identity at the time of the briefing. Witnesses interviewed by local news outlets outside the mall said they heard multiple gunshots and saw people fleeing through the mall.

(More Texas stories.)