The Allen Police Department says that Steven Spainhouer, who gained national attention after the mass killing outside the Allen Premium Outlets in early May, is not a “credible witness.”
Who is Spainhouer?
Spainhouer gained notoriety for his gruesome account of what he witnessed in the aftermath of the shooting.
Spainhouer claimed he rushed to the outlet mall after receiving a call from his son about an active shooter. Spainhouer claimed he managed to arrive at the shooting location before first responders and thus was able to administer first aid to shooting victims, including one girl who he claimed “had no face” and a boy underneath his deceased mother.
Spainhouer later used his notoriety to push for gun control — despite being a self-declared “gun lover.”
“When you get hit with an automatic weapon fire at close range, there is no opportunity for survival,” Spainhouer told MSNBC. “I don’t know what the gunman’s problem was, but it wasn’t mental health that killed these people. It was an automatic rifle with bullets.
“I’m a gun lover; I have guns. I’m a former police officer. I’m a former Army officer. But these M4s, AR-15s — they’ve got to get off these streets or this is gonna keep happening,” he added.
\u201cFormer Army officer and ‘gun lover’ who witnessed the Texas mall shooting says mental health isn’t the problem: “We need more gun control”\n\n”I don’t know what the gunman’s problem was, but it wasn’t mental health that killed these people. It was an automatic rifle with bullets.”\u201d— Mark Poloncarz (@Mark Poloncarz)
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What did police say?
The Allen Police Department released a statement on Friday questioning Spainhouer’s credibility. Specifically, law enforcement said his public statements do not match the evidence.
“Allen Police Department wants to inform the public of discrepancies with statements made by a witness to several media outlets. Following the shooting at Allen Premium Outlets, Mr. Steven Spainhouer of McKinney, Texas gave multiple public accounts of his actions,” the department said.
“Inconsistencies between these public accounts and investigative facts led Allen Police Department to conduct a follow-up interview. During this interview, detectives determined that Mr. Spainhouer is not a credible incident witness,” the agency explained.
According to police, Spainhouer did not arrive before first responders, nor did he provide first aid, like CPR, to victims. Police also said he did not uncover a boy under his dead mother.
Moreover, police refuted Spainhouer’s claim that it was still an active-shooter situation when he arrived. Police said they neutralized the perpetrator four minutes after shots began at 3:36 p.m. Spainhouer did not arrive until between 3:44 and 3:52 p.m., they said.
In response to the statement, Spainhouer posted on Facebook that he is “hurt and disappointed” by police refuting his version of events. He mostly defended himself and doubled down on his previous statements. He also lashed out at the Allen Police Department for allegedly taking 20 minutes to respond, which the department already said is not true.
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