ALLEN, Texas — Federal officials are investigating whether the gunman who killed eight people at a Dallas-area mall expressed an interest in white supremacist ideology as they work to try to discern a motive for the attack, a federal official said. law to The Associated Press. The official cautioned that the investigation is in its early stages.
Federal agents have been reviewing social media accounts they believe Mauricio Garcia, 33, used and posts expressing interest in white supremacist and neo-Nazi views, said the official, who could not discuss specifics of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on terms. of anonymity
Garcia also had a patch on his chest when he was killed by police that read “RWDS,” an acronym for the phrase “Right-Wing Death Squad,” which is popular among right-wing extremists and white supremacist groups. said the official.
In addition to reviewing social media posts, federal agents have interviewed family members and associates of Garcia to ask about his ideological beliefs, the official said. Investigators are also reviewing financial records, other online postings they believe Garcia made and other electronic media, the official said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Previous AP story follows below.
The gunman who killed eight people at a Texas mall was identified as a man who had been staying at a Dallas-area motel, but his motive was a mystery Sunday, a day after the attack turned an afternoon of shopping into a massacre.
Three law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press named the gunman as Mauricio Garcia, 33, who was fatally shot Saturday by a police officer standing near the suburban Dallas mall. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation.
One of the officials said investigators had been searching the motel, and two of the officials said investigators searched a home in the Dallas area connected to the suspect. The official said police also found several weapons at the scene after Garcia’s death, including an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun.
Authorities released few details after the attack. They offered no clues as to why Garcia would open fire on strangers or any details about those killed, including their names.
The shooting was the latest attack to contribute to an unprecedented rate of mass killings this year in the US. Barely a week earlier, five people were shot dead in Cleveland, Texas, after a neighbor asked a man to stop firing his gun while a baby was sleeping. , authorities said.
The name of Allen’s gunman emerged as the community mourned the dead and waited for news of the seven people who were wounded.
John Mark Caton, senior pastor of Cottonwood Creek Church, about two miles from the mall, offered prayers during his weekly service for victims, first responders and shoppers and employees who were “walking past things which they should never have seen.”
“Some of our people were there. Some maybe in this room. Some of our students were working in these stores and that will change forever,” Caton said.
Recalling phone conversations with police officers, he said, “There wasn’t an officer I spoke to yesterday who didn’t cry at some point during the call.”
The attack took place at Allen Premium Outlets, a large outdoor mall. Witnesses said they saw children among the victims. Some said they also saw what appeared to be a police officer and mall security guard unconscious on the ground.
Andria Gaither, the assistant manager of the Tommy Hilfiger clothing store, said she was in the back of the store Saturday afternoon when she saw two girls trying to hide in a dressing room. At first, he thought they were playing. Then he heard one say that shots were being fired.
Gaither looked around to see customers and the store manager running to the back of the business. Finally, Gaither and the others ran out a back door.
“As soon as I walked out of the back of the store, you could hear the gunfire,” Gaither said Sunday. “It was really loud. I’ve never heard anything like it in my life. It was deafening.”
He began running throughout the mall and eventually got into the vehicle of another worker who was leaving.
Dashcam video circulating online showed the gunman getting out of a car and shooting people on the sidewalk. More than three dozen gunshots could be heard as the vehicle recording the video drove away.
Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said seven people, including the shooter, died at the scene. Two more people died in hospitals.
The injured remained hospitalized Sunday — three in critical condition and four in fair condition, the Allen Police Department said in a statement.
An Allen police officer was in the area on an unrelated call when he heard gunshots at 3:36 p.m., the department wrote on Facebook.
“The officer engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat. He then called emergency personnel,” the post said.
Mass killings have occurred with surprising frequency in the United States this year, averaging one per week, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.
In a statement, President Joe Biden said the attacker was wearing tactical gear and firing an AR-15-style weapon. He urged Congress to enact stricter restrictions on firearms and ammunition.
“An attack like this is too shocking to be so familiar. And yet American communities have already suffered roughly 200 mass shootings this year, by major counts,” said Biden, who ordered the flags to be flown at half-staff. half mast
Republicans in Congress, he said, “cannot continue to face this epidemic with a shrug.”
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has signed laws easing restrictions on firearms after past mass shootings, called the mall attack an “unspeakable tragedy.”
Video shared on social media showed people running across a parking lot amid the sound of gunfire.
Fontayne Payton, 35, was in H&M when she heard gunshots through her headphones.
“It was so loud it sounded like it was right outside,” Payton said.
People in the store dispersed before employees ushered the group into changing rooms and then into a locked back room, he said. When they were given permission to leave, Payton saw that the store had broken windows and a trail of blood on the door. Discarded sandals and bloody clothes lay nearby.
Once outside, Payton saw bodies.
“I pray they weren’t kids, but they looked like kids,” he said. The bodies were covered in white towels, slumped over bags on the floor. “It broke my heart when I went out to see this.”
Farther away, he saw the body of a burly man dressed in black. He assumed he was the shooter, Payton said, because unlike the other bodies he had not been covered.
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Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in Washington, Vanessa Alvarez in New York, James Vertuno in Austin and Adam Kealoha Causey in Dallas and Gene Johnson in Seattle and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho contributed to this report.
