Steven Spainhouer, Dallas mall witness and Army vet

Several of the news feeds have talked about Steven Spainhouer, a self-described Army vet who says he was near the Allen mall when his son called him saying there was an active shooter. He says he beat the cops to the mall (disputing their timeline) and says he attempted to aid victims but that their wounds were too horrific and nothing could be done.

“We can put red flag laws in place. We can limit high-capacity rounds. … We can stop putting some of these weapons like M4s and AR-15s in the hands of people that don’t need them,” Spainhouser (sic) said in an interview with CNN.

Spainhouser (sic) has recounted his experience responding to the scene. “The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pull her head to the side, and she had no face,” he said in one interview.  Rolling Stone

Not sure if anyone knows anything of this guy – says he is an Army vet yet seems to think an AR-15 is an issue weapon?

I have guns. I’ve been around guns. I love my guns, but those automatic rifles that are on the streets need to come off the streets.

Steven Spainhouer   NBC New York

He may be sincere…but he seems quick to claim being an Army vet – who seems to have learned very little when he was in.

Then there is his timeline. If you have read any of the material, the shooter was neutralized within about 4 minutes by an officer who was in the neighborhood on another call – fortuitous for the good guys.  But…then there is Spainhouer’s version:

Spainhouer said he arrived at the outlet mall “between 8 minutes and 16 minutes after [his son] Freddie’s” call,” based on the estimated arrival times given by the Allen Police Department.

“I didn’t see a police car or ambulance for another 5-6 minutes, even though I asked for help using a witness cell phone. That’s a little over 20 minutes since the shooting started, that victims lay injured or dying in front of H&M Store,” he said.

Spainhouer spoke to a number of media outlets, including CBS News Texas, about the aftermath of the shooting. He claimed in those interviews that he arrived in the parking lot of the outlet mall before first responders, and said he administered aid and performed CPR on people who had been shot. Spainhouer recounted the “carnage” he said that he saw, including a young girl who “had no face” and a young boy covered “head to toe” in blood, who, according to Spainhouer, was hiding beneath the body of his deceased mother. CBS News

But then there is the law enforcement timeline and statement:

According to the police department, “Mr. Spainhouer arrived between 3:44 and 3:52 p.m. and was not first on the scene, nor was he on the property while gunfire was occurring.” The department also said that Spainhouer “did not perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) or administer first aid” and “did not move a deceased mother who was covering a live child.”

“Following the shooting at Allen Premium Outlets, Mr. Steven Spainhouer of McKinney, Texas gave multiple public accounts of his actions,” the statement read. “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.” CBS News

Doesn’t exactly lend any credibility to ANYTHING he claims or advocates, does it?

Category: Army, Crime, Exploitation, First Responders