Texas mall shooting – latest: Frenzied police audio reveals terror during outlet massacre
Mauricio Garcia brought a stash of eight legally-purchased weapons to Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday where he opened fire, the tragedy has left the mall closed indefinitely
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As a gunman opened fire on people shopping at the Allen Premium Outlets in Texas, police scrambled to locate the suspect and subdue him.
Recently released audio from police revealed that the gunman, Mauricio Garcia, was still shooting when authorities arrived at the scene on Saturday (6 May).
Eight people, including three young children, died and seven others were injured after Garcia, 33, brought a stash of eight legally-purchased weapons to the mall to conduct the shooting.
The gunman had left signs he was planning an attack at the outlets on his digital footprint, specifically from his profile on a Russian website, which police confirmed on Tuesday belonged to him.
One of the posts, reviewed by The Independent, was a video, posted the day of the shooting, showing Garcia removing a Scream Ghostface mask saying, “Not quite what you were expecting, huh?”
The video appeared to be his final message among a trove of Nazi-related images and hate-filled rants against women and racial minorities posted in the run-up to the massacre.
Nazi images, hateful rants and ‘Right Wing Death Squad’: A look at Texas gunman’s alleged far-right social media posts
Two days, three attacks, 18 dead: Texas reels from horrifying weekend of violence
Mauricio Garcia: Everything we know about the Texas mall gunman who killed eight
Texas mall shooting victim Christian LaCour hailed as a hero for helping person to safety before he was killed
Father killed in shooting ‘loved being a dad'
Kyu Cho, one of the victims of the Texas mass shooting was the father to two children, William, 6, and James, 3, as well as the husband to Cindy Cho.
Mr Cho, his wife Cindy Cho and their son James were all shot dead after a gunman opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday (6 May).
The only survivor of the Cho family is six-year-old William who no longer has parents or a younger brother.
Brian Aniki, Mr Cho’s friend, mentor and taekwondo teacher from his college days told NBC News that Mr Cho “loved being a dad”.
Mr Cho’s other friends from college attested to his bright personality, caring nature and love for family.
Grace Ghang a friend of Mr Cho’s who went to law school with him at Ave Maria School of Law said they last spoke in 2021 when they tried to arrange for a playdate for their children.
“We concluded our messaging by saying we would love to get together sometime since both of us now live in Texas, and I really was planning on trying to make a trip sometime to Dallas to try and catch up with him,” Ms Ghang told NBC News. “But now that opportunity is lost.”
GoFundMe releases list of official funds
GoFundMe has compiled a list of the official donation websites for the families of the victims affected by the mass shooting.
The Allen, TX Victims’ Fund, organised by Victims’ Fund, benefits the families of victims 100 per cent. It is the same organisation that collected donations for the families of the Uvlade, TX victims.
The Irvin Walker II Fund is seeking donations from people to help Irvin Walker, a man who was shot twice during the shooting. Mr Walker II survived but has “a long road to recovery”. The money raised will go toward paying for medical and personal expenses.
The Cho Family Fund is raising money for William Cho, the six-year-old boy who is the only person in his immediate family who survived the shooting. William’s parents, Cindy and Kyu, as well as his three-year-old brother James died.
The Mendoza Family Fund is seeking donations to help support the Mendoza family who lost their 11-year-old daughter Daniela and 8-year-old daughter Sofia in the tragic shooting. The girls’ mother was also shot and is currently in the hospital.
The LaCour Family Fund is asking for donations to “offset some of the financial burden” from 20-year-old Christian LaCour’s death. LaCour’s father is managing the fundraiser.
Firearms used in mass shooting were obtained legally
The gunman who used an AR-15-style rifle in a mass shooting on Saturday (6 May) obtained the gun legally, Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas Department of Safety said in a press conference on Tuesday.
Mr Sibley said the gunman, identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, obtained all eight of the weapons he arrived to Allen Premium Outlets with legally
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms ran traces on all of the weapons to determine this.
Garcia did not have a criminal record and worked in security before the shooting occurred.
GoFundMe tops $1m for boy, 6, who lost entire family in Allen mall mass shooting
A GoFundMe campaign has topped $1m for a six-year-old boy who was the only member of a family to survive the mass shooting at a mall in Allen, Texas.
Rachel Sharp reports:
GoFundMe tops $1m for boy, 6, who lost entire family in Allen mall mass shooting
According to a GoFundMe set up to help the six-year-old, the family-of-four had just celebrated his sixth birthday days before three of them were murdered
Audio from shooting reveals officers couldn’t see gunman
Recently released police audio from the scene of the shooting had revealed officers arrived while the gunman was still shooting but originally couldn’t see the suspect.
“I’m trying to get to him,” an officer said over radio to the police dispatcher, according to audio obtained by the Dallas Morning News. “They’re still shooting.”
Another officer added: “By Tommy Hilfiger. I don’t know where he’s at,” sounding breathless as he attempted to locate the gunman.
FBI investigating gunman’s electronic devices
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the gunman, Mauricio Garcia’s, electronic devices, police revealed in a press conference on Tuesday.
As authorities work to determine a motive behind the shooting, the FBI will be investigating Garcia’s online presence.
Hank Sibley, a regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Garcia displayed “neo-Nazi ideation” as he had a tattoo of a swastika and “his signature” indicated he had ideas about neo-Nazism.
A profile on the Russian website ok.ru that seemingly belonged to Garcia gave a peak into the gunman’s thinking as he posted praise for Adolf Hitler, photos of Nazi symbols and more in posts seen by The Independent.
Shooter allegedly said ‘I’ll take my chances’ with white supremacy
A string of online posts believed to have been shared by gunman Mauricio Garcia showed an obsession with white supremacy.
In one such post, reported by AP, Garcia had posted an image of a Latino child in front of a form in the road - one fork pointing towards the words “act Black”, the other towards the words “become a white supremacist”.
He had written underneath the drawing: “I think I’ll take my chances with the white supremacist.”
As well as sharing racist, white-supremacist ideas, Garcia had also shared misogynistic messages.
Twitter under fire for allowing graphic images of Texas mass shooting victims to circulate for hours
In the days after a mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets in Texas, footage depicting the immediate and gruesome aftermath of the shooting began circulating on Twitter.
Unknowing Twitter users opened up the social media platform on Monday only to see a video depicting several victims lying on the ground covered in blood with some body parts visible.
Another video showed the gunman deceased, with blood coming from his body. Stills from the video were shared separately.
For hours, the footage haunted people’s “for you” feeds. Even those not seeking out the content stumbled across it.
Ariana Baio reports:
Twitter under fire for allowing graphic images of shooting to circulate for hours
Violent and gruesome footage from the mass shooting circulated on unsuspecting people’s Twitter feeds
WATCH: Texas mall shooting survivor speak about worker who saved shoppers
Audio reveals moment officer made frantic request for backup moments before taking down Texas mall shooter
Just moments before taking the suspect down, a police officer could be heard saying that he “needed everybody I got” in an internal police radio call released on Sunday, the Daily Mail reported. Two minutes after that call, the officer said: “I got him down.”
Hundreds of mall-goers could be seen trying to flee the scene after the gunman opened fire with an AR-15-style gun around 3.30pm local time. Aerial footage from local news stations showed the devastating scene at the parking lot as dead bodies, including those of children, were covered in sheets.
Andrea Blanco and Graeme Massie report:
Moment officer makes frantic request for backup before taking down Texas mall shooter
Eight people were killed during the vicious attack that also left seven others injured at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, Texas, on Saturday afternoon