Texas shooting: 'A minute later, we'd have been in the crossfire'

Abu Akther was shopping with his family when a gunman opened fire

A man from Stoke-on-Trent who witnessed a mass shooting at a Texas shopping centre has described his fear on first hearing the gunfire.

Abu Akther was caught up in the panic when a gunman opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets site on Saturday.

Eight people, including three children, were killed in the attack.

Mr Akther was visiting family and had been shopping at the centre's H&M store when he heard "loud pop pop noises" and took cover in a store room.

"We were metres away," he said.

"If we were a minute later or we didn't fancy anything from H&M we would have been in the crossfire, no doubt about it."

Among the eight victims were a three-year-old boy and his parents, two school children and a young engineer from India.

The suspect was shot dead by police. Detectives are investigating whether he had any links to far-right organisations.

Mr Akther described the confusion when he and his family first realised someone had opened fire.

"We could see people running around in the street, I told my family to go and hide," he said.

Relatives were taking cover behind some clothes rails when Mr Akther noticed, he said, an injured woman walking towards the store. He said he left the premises to bring her in and tried to comfort her, with staff assisting. After that, he explained, he did not know what became of her.

Mr Akther and family were then "escorted" by authorities to the back of the shop, where, he said, they barricaded themselves "in a store room", adding they stayed in place for between 45 minutes and an hour.

"Everyone was just praying or phoning their families," he said.

Mr Akther praised the police response to the shooting

Mr Akther had been in Texas to introduce his one-year-old child to relatives who live in the United States.

"We were looking for a peaceful day out," he said, explaining that in the aftermath of the shooting, he realised "how fortunate we are to be alive".

Praising police response, he added: "It's so sad how many people have passed away, but it could have been a lot worse.

"You can't believe one person could do all that," he said. "It could have been any of us."