KILLEEN, TX — In December of 2021 holiday shopping was in full swing at the Killeen mall and then gunfire echoed through the stores.
Shoppers and mall employees ran for their lives.
Killeen police immediately responded reports of an active shooter and Killeen Police Chief Charles rushed to the scene.
”I was thinking, active shooter with multiple victims. So, I knew a certain protocol had to happen. I left, I was getting updates, it was only one victim, I thought that was odd.” said Charles Kimble, Chief of Police for Killeen Police Department.
Police quickly realized that this was notanother mass shooting event but rather, a targeted attack.
”It wasn’t against the citizens of Killeen, it wasn’t against the mall, it wasn't against a group of people, it wasn’t a random attack. This was one person that had an issue with another person who happened to work at the mall,” said Kimble.
It was a targeted attack with only one victim that led one witness who might know who pulled the trigger.
”So, we had to talk to our victim. At this point, the victim has helped us the best he could and he doesn’t know who may have wanted to hurt him.” said Kimble.
Left with only surveillance footage to go by, KPD hit another roadblock trying to identify the shooter.
”The suspect was literally covered from head to toe. It was hard to even find out a person's race or skin complexion from the photographs.” said Kimble.
KPD thought they finally caught a break when they zero on a possible suspect but, it was a break in the case that was short lived.
”We had a working lead. We thought we had a subject of interest but, that person that we thought had been involved has since been cleared as a person of interest.” said Kimble.
KPD doesn't have another suspect in their at this time but Chief Kimble said, the case has not gone cold.
”We have many investigative techniques. We thought we had a strong on but, we’re still working on it.” said Kimble.
Kimble says, without more cooperation, they’ll have to find other ways to solve the case.
Anyone with information that can lead to the identity or apprehension of the shooter can contact reach out to the Killeen Police Department or contact Bell County Crime Stoppers.
