'Evil is not going to win,' survivor of Texas mall shooting says

Irvin Walker was looking for a parking place after dropping off his girlfriend at a Dallas-area mall when he began feeling the gunfire that was hitting his car last week

Mall Shooting Texas (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Irvin Walker was looking for a parking place after dropping his girlfriend off at a Dallas-area mall just over a week ago when he felt the gunfire.

The 46-year-old from Louisiana, who was hit with bullet fragments in his head, chest, neck and arm, spoke Tuesday at Medical City McKinney in Texas about his recovery from the May 6 shooting at Allen Premium Outlets, where eight people were killed.

He said he's drawn strength from his faith, family, friends and the hospital staff.

“I think this event was just evidence of evil not winning,” Walker said, sitting in a wheelchair during a news conference, wounds visible on his arm. “The power of God just showed brightly and gave me an opportunity to fight through this process, and evil is not going to win.”

Dr. Elizabeth Kim, trauma director at the hospital located less than three miles from the mall, said Walker's smile the day he was rushed to the emergency room was one of the “bright parts that day."

“You were calm and you know, you were an inspiration to me,” Kim told him.

Walker, who works in insurance, said that at first, he didn't even see the gunman. “I just felt the shots,” he said. But walking and running from his car, he spotted the shooter.

Christian LaCour, 20, a mall security guard killed that day, intercepted Walker and told him to sit down.

“I don't have much to say after that,” Walker said. “A tragedy occurred.”