- Texas mall shooting kills at least eight people and injures at least seven others
- Authorities identified the suspect as a potential neo-Nazi sympathizer
- The man responsible for the attack was found to be 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia
Texas authorities have identified the suspect in the horrific mall shooting that killed at least people as a potential neo-Nazi sympathizer.
The man responsible for the brutal incident in Allen, Texas, on Saturday was found to be 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia. On top of the people killed, the attack also injured at least seven other residents in the area.
Texas Mall Shooting
In an interview on Sunday, Steven Spainhouer, whose son was working at Allen Premium Outlets, where the incident took place, received a phone call from his kid. His son said there was a shooting at the place where he was working and added that he was helping people hide inside the break room.
Spainhouer, a former Army and police officer, quickly went to the crime scene and called 911 for assistance. Upon arriving, he counted the bodies he saw on the ground that, marked the latest massacre in the United States, as per CNN.
The recent shooting happened in the same week when a gunman opened fire inside a medical facility in Atlanta, resulting in one death and four injuries. Many Americans nationwide have experienced one of the 200 mass shootings in just the first five months of 2023.
The Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization, and CNN define mass shootings as those incidents where four or more people are struck, excluding the shooter. The suspect in the Saturday incident was killed by an Allen Police Department officer at the mall at the time of the shooting on an unrelated call.
According to a senior law enforcement source, officials are trying to investigate whether or not the shooter had any motivations rooted in right-wing extremism. The source added that while authorities currently do not have a specific motive, the shooter was found to have an insignia on his clothing that read "RWDS," which was thought to mean "Right Wing Death Squad."
Potential Neo-Nazi Sympathizer
In a statement, United States President Joe Biden addressed the recent shooting and added that the suspect was armed with an "AR-15 style assault weapon. One of the senior law enforcement officials reporting on the incident noted that the shooter was wearing a tactical vest and was also in possession of a handgun, according to NBC News.
Authorities added that Garcia had several social media accounts and was found to have been drawn to neo-Nazi and white supremacist content. One woman, who was neighbors with the shooter, described him as moving like clockwork, coming home and going to work every day.
During a press briefing, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said the shooting was a tragedy and argued that people want answers. He expressed his apologies to the families who were affected by the devastating incident, said ABC News.
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