The suspected gunman who left eight dead and several people wounded following Saturday afternoon's attack on the Allen Premium Outlets in Dallas, Texas, has been identified as Mauricio Garcia. An Allen Police Department officer who was already on the scene on an unrelated call shot and killed Garcia.
The 33-year-old was a security guard between 2016 and 2020 who trained to be able to use firearms in 2015. The suspect did not have a serious criminal record, a requirement to hold his position. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) disqualifies anyone who has committed any violent criminal act from being employed in the organization.
Authorities searched his property
On Saturday night, following the mall shooting, local police and FBI agents searched the Dallas home where the suspect lived with his parents. Officials said they also searched a motel where Garcia had requested an extended stay. However, no additional information was obtained about the attack.
A patch on the gunman's chest hints at white supremacist or neo-Nazi tendencies, and inquiries are being made into any religious ties or radical beliefs that may have motivated the shooting.
Garcia's neighbors mentioned that the suspect in the mall attack drove a gray sedan that they had seen parked in front of the house on several occasions, but in the last few weeks, they had not seen the car or the driver. Residents of the neighborhood claim they had not seen the shooter with weapons in the house in the past and that he had not been part of any mishaps in the area.
BREAKING: Texas outlet mall mass shooter identified as 33 year-old Mauricio Garcia, who worked as a security guard; his vehicle can be seen outside his parents home in Dallas, Texas pic.twitter.com/IaTCBVNRVd
— Intel Point Alert (@IntelPointAlert) May 7, 2023
A call for help
The Texas police officer in charge of ending the shooting, who has not yet been identified, called his colleagues impatiently to end the attack as soon as possible.
The officer yelled on the call that people were still running around the scene and that he kept hearing gunshots. On the Allen Police Department recording, the officer could be heard saying "I need everybody." A couple of minutes after desperately asking for help from his colleagues, the officer made another call, mentioning that he had managed to neutralize the target. "I got him down," the officer said over the radio.
