North Texas SC coach ‘lucky to be alive’ after being near Allen mall shooting

Javier Cano said he and his family were next door to where the shooting took place

North Texas SC head coach Javier Cano has said he and his family are “lucky to be alive” after they were at the Allen Premium Outlets mall when a deadly shooting took place on Saturday.

A gunman opened fire at the mall outside Dallas, killing at least eight people and injuring at least seven before he was killed by a police officer.

Dashcam video released after the shooting showed the gunman getting out of his car in front of a H&M store and opening fire at a crowd. In a post on Twitter, Cano said that he and his family were at a nearby J. Crew store when the shooting took place.

“Tonight was the toughest moment since I’ve [been] in the United States,” Cano said. “I was with my family at Allen Outlets, next to H&M where everything happened. If we didn’t come inside [a] J. Crew store a minute before, maybe today my family and I [would be] in a white plastic bag.”

The 39-year-old Spaniard was named head coach of North Texas SC, the MLS Next Pro affiliate of FC Dallas, prior to the 2023 season. Before that he had worked in the Austin FC and D.C. United academies, as well as clubs in his native Spain and in the Czech Republic.

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