Texas’s DALLAS (AP) — The suspect in a mass shooting at a suburban Dallas shopping centre who is accused of killing eight people and injuring several more planned his attack at peak hours and shared images of a store nearby on social media in mid-April.
According to Mauricio Garcia’s tweets on a Russian social media platform, the 33-year-old had been preparing the attack for days before he got out of a silver automobile and started shooting on Saturday. Two sisters in their early elementary school years, a couple and their little kid, age 3, and a security guard were also among the victims.Garcia also demonstrated a passion with white supremacy and mass killings through his online behaviour, which he referred to as sport. Large Nazi tattoos, including a swastika and the SS lightning bolt emblem of Hitler’s paramilitary forces, could be seen on his arm and chest in photos he shared.
gunfire in Allen, Texas on Monday, May 8, 2023. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)
Texas’s DALLAS (AP) — The suspect in a mass shooting at a suburban Dallas shopping centre who is accused of killing eight people and injuring several more planned his attack at peak hours and shared images of a store nearby on social media in mid-April.
According to Mauricio Garcia’s tweets on a Russian social media platform, the 33-year-old had been preparing the attack for days before he got out of a silver automobile and started shooting on Saturday. Two sisters in their early elementary school years, a couple and their little kid, age 3, and a security guard were also among the victims.
Garcia also demonstrated an interest with white nationalism and mass shootings through his online behaviour, which he explained.
Garcia’s profile on the website OK.RU was found by Aric Toler, director of training and research at the global research consortium bellingcat.com, while looking for active accounts with his birthday in the US. The account was further supported by a photo of a traffic ticket including Garcia’s name and birthday as well as documentation from the motel where he lodged prior to the shooting, according to the AP, which independently validated it.
According to a federal law enforcement official who spoke to the AP under the condition of anonymity and couldn’t disclose specifics of the case publicly, federal officials looking into the shooting’s motivation also looked at the internet postings.The official added that Garcia was wearing a patch on his chest when police shot and killed him that read “RWDS,” an acronym for the phrase “Right Wing Death Squad,” which is popular among right-wing extremists and white supremacy groups.
(Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)According to the official, investigators have also questioned Garcia’s relatives and associates about his political views and are looking through his financial records and other electronic media.
Garcia enlisted in the Army in 2008, but was discharged three months later without having finished his basic training, according to Heather J. Hagan, a spokesman for the US Army.
He was dismissed due to mental health difficulties, according to an Army official who went on the record under the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.According to a defence official who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, Garcia received a “uncharacterized” release, which is typical for recruits who don’t make it through training or the first 180 days.
That kind of discharge, which is not dishonourable, wouldn’t raise any concerns or necessitate reporting to the police.
Garcia’s Dallas neighbours claimed they believed he was a security guard but were unsure of where on the block where he previously resided in a family home.
When messages were sent to the mall’s management business requesting more information, no response was received right away.
Despite not knowing her neighbours well, the woman who lives next door described them as friendly and polite. Garcia
According to a defence official who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, Garcia received a “uncharacterized” release, which is typical for recruits who don’t make it through training or the first 180 days. That kind of discharge, which is not dishonourable, wouldn’t raise any concerns or necessitate reporting to the police.
According to a law enforcement official, detectives have also examined a Dallas motel where Garcia was staying before the incident.
Two Republicans voted with Democrats to pass a bill that would raise the purchase age for semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21, despite the legislation has little to no chance of actually becoming law. This was done amid rallies for stronger gun control on Monday at the Texas Capitol.
The shooting was the most recent incident to add to this year’s extraordinary number of mass homicides in the United States. Just over a week earlier, five people in Cleveland, Texas were shot and killed when a neighbour requested a man to stop shooting his gun while a baby slept, according to investigators.
The neighbourhood mourned the victims while it awaited updates on the seven injured persons. Medical City Healthcare reported on Monday that it was attending to six patients at a children’s hospital, of whom three were in critical condition, two were in fair condition, and one was in good health. According to the police, a seventh injured person was sent to another hospital.
One of the many different suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is Allen, which has around 105,000 residents. According to U.S. Census data, the region experienced the fastest growth of Asian Americans of any significant U.S. metro area. According to those figures, the population of Allen is roughly 19% Asian, 10% Black, and 11% Hispanic.
Allen is also linked to another recent mass shooting in Texas. Before writing an online racist tirade warning of a “Hispanic invasion” and driving to El Paso, where he opened fire at a Walmart, killing 23, Patrick Crusius lived there. In February, Crusius, 24, entered a guilty plea to federal counts of using a weapon and a hate crime.
