Texas man ID’d after driving into mall, injuring 5 in police chase

The Texas man who drove into a mall and injured five people while fleeing from police was identified Sunday by authorities.

John Darrel Schultz, 53, was fatally shot by cops at the end of the wild chase in Killeen, NBC News reported.

Schultz smashed through the doors of a JCPenney at Killeen Mall, about 50 miles north of Austin, according to authorities. He continued driving at least one hundred yards into the store, striking at least five people inside who were hospitalized with various injuries, cops said.

Officers pursuing Schultz and off-duty cops inside the mall worked together and opened fire on Schultz inside the store, killing him.

“Thankfully he was stopped when he was because it could have been so much worse,” Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Bryan Washko told local ABC affiliate KXXV.

Cops began chasing after Schultz in Benton, about 15 miles east of Killeen, around 5 p.m. Saturday. They were responding to reports of an erratic and possibly drunk driver in a black pickup truck.

Schultz drove toward Killeen on a highway and then exited to Killeen Mall, cops said. He sped through the parking lot and slammed into the JCPenney. The five injured people were only identified as mall patrons between the ages of 6 and 75.

Three years ago around the holidays, Killeen Mall was also the site of a shooting that left one man injured with multiple gunshot wounds and sent shoppers scurrying for safety. No one has been arrested in that case.

With News Wire Services