A social media page believed to belong to the gunman who killed eight people at a Dallas-area outlet mall has posted since September with posts about mental health issues and Jews, women and racial minorities shared his extremist beliefs.
Mauricio Garcia, 33, maintained a profile on the Russian social networking platform OK.ru, which included posts referencing extremist online forums such as 4chan and content from white nationalists, including anti-Semitic white nationalist provocateur Nick Fuentes .
In the weeks prior to the attack, Garcia posted more than 24 photos of Allen Premium Outlets, where police officers killed him after the Saturday shooting, and the surrounding area, including several screenshots from Google Geolocation, of the mall. were monitoring. busiest hours.
His mental health has been cited in many of his posts. In his last post, he spoke about his family and wrote that no psychologist could ever heal him.
In another post, he made troubling comments about making mass shootings “significant” and praised the man who this year shot and killed six people, including three children, at a Christian private school in Nashville, Tennessee. Did it
The shooter also posted a series of links to other sites, including a YouTube account, with videos posted on the day of the shooting. In it he took off his “Scream” mask and said,
He also posted a picture of a bulletproof jacket adorned with a patch with the initials of “Right Wing Death Squad”.
Law enforcement sources said agents from the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Enforcement Administration are tracking at least four weapons found at the scene.
E-receipts posted to the shooter’s social media accounts show he spent more than $3,200 in June on three types of firearms purchased through a Dallas gun distributor.
Many of Garcia’s other posts used misogyny, profanity of women, and parrot language to inflame or communicate unintended abstinence. In the post, Garcia mentioned some Incel forums and praised gunmen in the Incel community commemorating the 2014 mass murder in Isla Vista, California.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive. A senior law enforcement source said the gunman’s social media sites were part of the investigation.
Authorities stressed in their preliminary review that the shooter’s social media posts were not liked or shared by other users and that the investigation was ongoing.
An official said authorities believe the shooter acted alone and that investigators continue to question his relatives and friends.
Evidence analysis
Federal, state and local law enforcement officials are analyzing evidence seized from two locations in Dallas. his family home in the Northeast neighborhood and a hotel in the north of the city.
A law enforcement official familiar with the details of the investigation said evidence being collected suggested the shooter agreed to a “mixture” of ideologies. But the official warned that it could take weeks or months for agents to analyze the information to get a more complete picture of his ideology.
Garcia has no criminal record, which officers quickly identified.
He enlisted in June 2008, but was discharged after three months due to mental and physical problems. Army spokeswoman Heather Hagen said he did not complete basic training, was never deployed and did not receive any awards.
“We do not offer discharge characteristics to any soldier,” she said.
Authorities searched a home in a tree-lined neighborhood in Dallas linked to the gunman and his family. I could see people coming and going from the residence. People who visited the home on Monday declined to comment.
Texas shooting
The Allen shooting comes just a week after a man fatally shot five people in Cleveland, Texas, north of Houston, after he asked not to shoot a child while he was sleeping.
There have been seven mass shootings in Texas since the Uvalde elementary school shooting a year ago, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in collaboration with Northeastern University. The AP reports that there has been an average of one mass murder per week this year.
Texas Senate Democrats urged the Republican-led legislature on Monday to pass new gun laws that include setting age limits on gun ownership and closing gun show loopholes.
State Senator Roland Gutierrez tweeted Monday afternoon that House Bill 2744 has been passed by the Committee on Community Safety and will be headed by the House Scheduling Committee.
“Our voices are making a difference. “Efforts are on to bring this bill to the House.”
The bill is family supported. Anyone who has lost loved ones in the Uvalde massacre. In that case, the shooter used an AR-15 style rifle that he had purchased after he turned 18.
About 25 miles north of downtown Dallas and with a population of approximately 105,000, Allen is one of several suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The community has also been linked to recent mass shootings in Texas. In 2019, a man who lived there posted racist remarks online warning of “Hispanic aggression”, went to El Paso, and opened fire on a Walmart, killing 23 people. The 24-year-old gunman pleaded guilty in February to federal hate crimes and weapons charges.