WHITEWRIGHT, Texas (KTEN) — The shooting massacre at an Allen, Texas, outlet mall hits close to home for many Texomans. 

According to the Gun Violence Archive, Saturday's incident was the nation's 199th mass shooting this year.

"It can happen at any time and any place," said Whitewright police chief Chad Stallings.

"Your mind would just raise with so many thoughts, because you would just want to react and try to go somewhere where you can hide, or hurry up and get in your car and leave," said Dallas resident Delvon Sterling.

Chief Stallings wants to make sure people have a plan if they ever encounter a situation like this.

"We wear seatbelts in our cars, but don't think about accidents. We can think about a thought of an active shooter in public place and have a plan in our head," he said.

One simple recommendation: Take cover and hide.

"Get as low as possible. Get as many people with you as you can, and hopefully you have a chance of surviving something that horrible," Stallings said.

The Allen incident triggered a memory for Stallings from eight years ago.

"When I worked in Garland in 2015, there was an attack at the Curtis Culwell center, and I happened to be working that day," he said. "I can tell you those things are very chaotic; you don't always have the information what's going on, you don't know the number of threats. It's a lot of unknowns, and it can be very stressful."

Now as chief, Stallings is making sure the people of Whitewright are safe.

"It doesn't matter how close we get, or how much danger we will have to put ourselves in... we will take care of it," he pledged.