Texas gunman may have embraced white supremacy, media reports say

ALLEN – The man accused of shooting and killing eight people at a Texas mall appeared to have embraced white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideologies, multiple media outlets reported on Monday.

In social media profiles thought to be linked to the suspect, 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, investigators found posts targeting racial or ethnic minorities, NBC News reported, citing two law enforcement officials. The police killed Garcia, who was wearing tactical gear and carrying an AR-15-style rifle, during the attack.

On a Russian social media platform, a user believed to have been Garcia praised the dictator Adolf Hitler and sympathised with neo-Nazi beliefs, according to The New York Times, citing law enforcement sources. The profile also made hateful comments against women.

During the shooting, Garcia wore a patch with the letters “RWDS”, an abbreviation for “Right Wing Death Squad”, advocating violence to achieve political means, the Times reported, citing an official whose identity it did not disclose.

Reuters could not independently confirm the reports.

The police identified Garcia, a Dallas resident, as the suspect accused of opening fire on Saturday at Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen, a suburb of Dallas. He was shot dead by police arriving at the scene. Officials have not released any further information about him or his motives.

The Allen Police Department, Collin County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reports.

A GoFundMe page appeared to confirm that three of those killed in the shooting were Korean-American parents and their three-year-old son. 

“After being released from the ICU, their six-year-old son William is the only surviving member of this horrific event,” the page said. 

Others who lost their lives included two elementary school-aged sisters, a security guard and an engineer, according to local media.

Separately, it emerged that Garcia had been kicked out of the United States Army in 2008 less than three months after joining, a spokesman said on Monday.

“Mauricio Garcia entered the regular army in June 2008. He was terminated three months later without completing initial entry training,” US Army spokesman Heather Hagan said in a statement, without specifying why he was removed. 

“He was not awarded a military occupational specialty. He had no deployments or awards,” Ms Hagan added.

The massacre is among the latest of at least 202 mass shootings recorded in the US in 2023, according to the non-profit group Gun Violence Archive. The group defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more people are wounded or killed, not including the shooter.

In a statement on Sunday, President Joe Biden renewed calls for the US Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as to enact universal background checks and end immunity for gun manufacturers.

State lawmakers on Monday advanced legislation out of the House committee to prohibit people under 21 years old from owning certain semi-automatic rifles, said the office of Democratic Representative Tracy King, who authored the Bill. The measure is unlikely to pass the Republican-dominated legislature and is opposed by Governor Greg Abbott.

Mr King’s district includes the city of Uvalde, where 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school almost a year ago.

REUTERS