美国国家公共电台 NPR--Police in Texas says shooting victims at outlet mall ranged from 5 to 61 years old

Police in Texas says shooting victims at outlet¹ mall ranged from 5 to 61 years old

Transcript²

A gunman killed eight people at the outlet mall in Allen on Saturday — before a police officer killed the shooter. Mourners gathered for a vigil outside the mall on Sunday.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

At a Texas shopping mall over the weekend, a gunman killed eight people before a police officer killed him.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And here is some perspective on that shooting. It was not the worst mass shooting in years in the United States; nor was it even the worst mass shooting this year. Rather, it is the second-worst mass shooting so far this year, coming behind a shooting in Monterey Park, Calif. Police say the victims in Texas ranged from 5 years old to 61 years old.

MARTIN: KERA's Katherine Hobbs is with us now from Dallas with the latest on what happened and how people are responding. Katherine, good morning.

KATHERINE HOBBS, BYLINE³: Good morning.

MARTIN: First, can you - what can you tell us about the person who did this?

HOBBS: So police have identified the shooter as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia. And while the investigation⁴ is ongoing⁵, authorities have already searched Garcia's motel room and a nearby Dallas home with connections to him. Details about his motive⁶ haven't been confirmed yet, but President Biden spoke⁷ yesterday and said that Garcia used an AR-15-style assault weapon and wore tactical gear to the mall that day. He also said that children were among those killed. And the AP is reporting that police are looking into Garcia's ideology⁸ as a possible motive.

MARTIN: I understand that several vigils took place last night across north Texas. You went to one at the site of the shooting at the mall. Would you just tell us what you saw?

HOBBS: So a small group of protesters were demanding action from elected officials. Shawnda Atkins sat with her daughters, and she held a sign that read, have y'all changed your mind on gun laws yet? Atkins says she arrived at the mall the day of the shooting just moments before Garcia opened fire, and she fled in a panic.

SHAWNDA ATKINS: I always come to Allen outlet. It's always felt so safe to me. But when you look at the gun problem that we have as a whole here in America, it's time that we take a stance.

HOBBS: Atkins said she was really shocked by the senseless violence. And there were no counterprotesters in attendance at the scene last night. Also in attendance was community leader Cheryl Jackson. She runs Minnie's Food Pantry in Allen, Texas, and she led the mourners in prayer and in a verse of "Amazing Grace" while candles were being placed around the crosses. The group chanted enough is enough while lighting⁹ their votives. And as the group ended up dispersing¹⁰ at the end, many stayed behind to sit quietly amidst the glow of the candlelight.

MARTIN: You know, you could really hear the emotion in her voice. What about some of the other people that you had a chance to speak with? How has this affected¹¹ them?

HOBBS: I spoke with several people at the vigil, and many of them there don't have a personal connection to the victims or their families. One woman I talked with, Catherine Reid, was kneeling in the grass, and she prayed for several minutes and said that when her community is hurting, she is hurting, and that even in the face of anger, she's always going to pray for her community. Across the lawn from her, there were a group of teenagers who sat huddled¹² together and crying. They told me that they were terrified to go to school, that they never knew if they were safe. And they were embracing each other and were reassuring¹³ each other as best they could that they were all OK. But one girl broke away from the group and whispered to me that she doesn't believe her friends and she doesn't ever really know if she can be sure that she is safe.

MARTIN: And before we let you go, what are the elected officials saying?

HOBBS: I was at a press conference a couple of nights ago, and during that press conference, we heard from a handful of officials. One of them who spoke was the Allen chief of police and, you know, other officials as well. And they all asked the community to pray for victims and their families. All the officials said that they'll continue to provide details as they do become available. No one who spoke mentioned anything about policy or legislation. But speaking Sunday on Fox News, Governor Greg Abbott said that Texas lawmakers won't enact¹⁴ gun control for now.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GREG ABBOTT: There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of anger and violence that's taking place in America. And what Texas is doing in a big-time way - we are working to address that anger and violence by going to its root cause, which is addressing the mental health problems behind it.

HOBBS: At the federal level, President Biden urged Congress to pass meaningful gun control laws. He said that would include universal background checks and the safe storage of firearms.

MARTIN: That is KERA's Katherine Hobbs reporting.

Katherine, thank you so much.

HOBBS: Thank you so much.

1 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

9 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

10 dispersing   

adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Whereas gasoline fumes linger close to the ground before dispersing. 而汽油烟气却靠近地面迟迟不散。
• Earthworms may be instrumental in dispersing fungi or bacteria. 蚯蚓可能是散布真菌及细菌的工具。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

13 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

14 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。