Heavily armed gunman in Texas mall shooting identified as Mauricio Garcia, 33
Authorities in Texas have named a heavily armed shooter who gunned down several people including children at the Allen Premium Outlets Mall in Dallas as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia.
The man, from Dallas himself, wore combat gear and used an AR-15 style rifle, President Joe Biden said. He was shot dead by an officer addressing a different cause in the area.
At least eight people were killed in Saturday’s attack, while a minimum of three injured victims remained in critical condition on Sunday.
Garcia also had a handgun, and several more weapons were found in his car, an investigator mentioned. He is also suspected to have had far-right connections because of a clothing patch he wore. According to CBS News, a couple of sources said the patch carried the letters RWDS – Right Wing Death Squad. It is believed to be a neo-Nazi group.
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Investigators are currently going through his online accounts, searching for clues on whether he may have had connections with domestic violent extremists and like-minded people.
The suspect was reportedly working as a security guard at the time of the incident and did not have a major criminal record.
Earlier on Sunday, President Biden reiterated his call for a ban on such assault rifles, calling on his political opponents in the Republican Party to back stricter gun control measures. However, his call was seen differently by Texas’ Republican governor Gregg Abbott.
Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, he said his aim was not to implement wider bans, but to target the possession of weapons by criminals as well as to address a rising mental health crisis – underscoring the “dramatic” increase in the amount of anger and violence in America.
