The first police officer on the scene of the Allen, TX mass shooting last month wasted no time in grabbing his weapon and engaging the gunman ... all captured in dramatic body cam footage.
The footage, released Wednesday, starts with the unnamed Allen PD officer talking to a family in the parking lot of the Allen Premium Outlets in a friendly exchange about the importance of wearing seatbelts ... when all of a sudden, gunshots ring out.
The officer immediately goes from nice guy to action hero -- immediately grabbing his rifle and running toward the gunshots -- all while radioing to his supervisors for assistance.
As the officer gets closer, he sees bodies on the ground, letting his dispatcher know it appears to be a mass-shooter event. Finally, the officer gets eyes on the gunman, and opens fire -- taking him down with multiple shots.
The hero cop is eventually joined by another officer, and they approach the body of the shooter, Mauricio Garcia, sprawled out and bloody.
It's absolutely stunning and admirable how quickly this officer sprung into action ... and he very likely saved numerous lives that day.
As we've reported ... Garcia shot and killed 8 people -- including several minors -- and injured 7 others in his rampage. No motive has been identified for his actions ... but he spewed hate online and even sported swastika tattoos.
The deadly use of force by Allen PD was actually taken before a grand jury, and a "no bill" decision was returned -- meaning the jurors found this officer acted appropriately and that killing Garcia was warranted under the law.