ALLEN — Keon Byrd tried to remain as calm as he could on Saturday, for his daughter.
The Allen pastor’s 16-year-old daughter, Kennedy, was frantically crying over the phone because of an active shooter situation in the mall she worked at Allen Premium Outlets. Her work, Champs Sports, was under lockdown.
“It’s the absolute worst call that I’ve been on the receiving end,” said Byrd, a pastor at Church Eleven32 in Allen and chaplain for the Allen Police Department. “(It’s) just an element of feeling helpless.”
Churches across Dallas-Fort Worth hosted services on Sunday to remember the lives of the eight people killed in Saturday’s mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets. The community came together for a Sunday evening prayer service at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church, which is located off the Sam Rayburn Tollway in Allen. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Sen. Angela Paxton were also in a crowd of about 2,200.
Six therapy dogs from Lutheran Church Charities arrived at the Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church to give support to the community. Teenagers and kids were petting and hugging the dogs before the service started. The team is going to be here until Thursday, assisting the community with different events.
The Communities Foundation of Texas is setting up fundraising for the victims, their families, and first responders, which is supposed to go live tonight, according to Ken Fulk, mayor of Allen.
Saturday’s shooting at Allen Premium Outlets was the 22nd mass murder — four or more people killed in a single incident — in the United States this year, according to data compiled by USA Today, The Associated Press and Northeastern University.
Vehicles packed the lots of local churches on Sunday morning, many parking on the streets and standing on the sides of the rooms where services were held.
Allen churches are addressing members with prayer services and counseling. Some of the town’s pastors and priests worked late into Saturday night immediately following the shooting to deliver remarks to grieving community members.
Dustin Bates, lead pastor at Church Eleven32, said church leaders are trying to give comfort and encouragement to community members.
“We’ve told our community that there’s going to be times to figure out what happened or how it happened, explain all those things,” Bates said. “But right now, we’ve got neighbors -- we’ve got people in our church -- that have been devastated, heartbroken.”
Edward Burns, Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, made a statement that Dallas Catholic churches delivered on Sunday morning that included a prayer for victims and their families as well as a message a call to end violence.
“Like all of you, I am deeply troubled by the shooting in the community of Allen and the senseless disregard for life that has occurred in our community,” the statement read. “The Catholic community is in unity and solidarity with the families who have lost loved ones in this tragedy.”
Burns added, “We must work for an end to the violence. We must pray for peace within our communities. And, we must have the courage to stand up to the forces of evil and the culture of death.”
In an email to members, leaders of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas said the group “has been in touch with city and federal law enforcement officials.” The organization is offering emergency counseling services from the Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas, victims’ resources and clergy support for those affected.
“Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas is heartbroken by the tragic events at the Allen Premium Outlets yesterday,” the email read. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families as well as with the Allen community and all law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene.”
A makeshift memorial formed on Sunday at one of the entrances to the popular outlet mall as community members and frequent shoppers search for meaning after the reports of the rampage.
Kristen and Rafael Alvarez, along with their three children, brought flowers to mourn the victims at the shopping center they frequently visit.
After the shooting was the subject of discussion at Fellowship Church in Frisco Sunday morning, they asked their children if they should drive to the outlet to mourn.
”We were just here a couple of weeks ago,” Kristen Alvarez said.
Ten crosses, eight representing the victims, are nailed into a flower bed near the entrance and gatherers with flowers tied them to the posts. A Texas flag is tied to the cross in the center.
Byrd said his wife “powerwalked” to that first hug with their daughter when she was out of the mall’s lockdown. Kennedy later told her parents that in those moments of uncertainty, she told a stranger nearby she just wanted someone to hold her hand.
A father nearby obliged.
“When she shared that with me, it’s heartbreaking because me as her father, I’m her protector, and I realized that I couldn’t always protect her,” Byrd said.
Staff writer Kyle Arnold contributed to this report.
