Saturday’s mass shooting at Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen, Texas left nine people dead, including the shooter, who was “neutralized” by a responding officer who was in the area on an unrelated call.
The shooter was subsequently identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Martinez Garcia of Dallas. Then commenced all manner of speculation as to the shooter’s motive, with some outlets characterizing Garcia as a “white supremacist,” despite the Hispanic surname, non-English-speaking parents, and a seemingly indiscriminate choice of victims.
While many questions remain regarding the shooter’s background and motive, on Tuesday, law enforcement officials from the Allen Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Texas Department of Public Safety provided additional information on the gunman.
Hank Sibley, regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the gunman, Mauricio Garcia, had no past criminal history and was not on the radar of law enforcement prior to Saturday’s outlet mall shooting. Sibley confirmed that Garcia was in the U.S. Army in 2008. He was in basic training, but was separated from the Army prior to completing basic training. Sibley confirmed that Garcia held a private security license in the state of Texas, but the license was expired and he had not been an active security guard “in some time” and was not working as a security guard at the time of the shooting. Garcia did work as a security guard for several outfits, but it is unknown whether he had ever worked as a security guard at the Allen Premium Outlets.
Authorities indicated that Garcia had multiple weapons with him at the time of the shooting — three on his person, five in his vehicle — all of which were obtained legally.
Pinning down Garcia’s motive remains a challenge as, thus far, no note or manifesto has been located.
Sibley said investigators are still trying to piece together a motive for Garcia’s actions. Warrants have been conducted at both Garcia’s residence at an extended-stay hotel in Dallas, and at his parents’ Dallas home. Sibley did say that investigators have determined that Garcia subscribed to neo-Nazi ideology, with neo-Nazi tattoos and patches found on his person at the scene of the crime. Authorities said the entire shooting event lasted three to four minutes, and there has been no indication that anyone else besides Garcia and the Allen police officer who shot and killed the gunman fired shots.
What they have determined is that Garcia’s focus appears to have been the location, rather than any particular demographic.
As noted, there is no indication Garcia had worked at the mall, so his reason for choosing that location remains unclear. Officials continue to comb through his social media accounts and devices in an effort to determine what led to the horrific incident. RedState will update with additional information when it becomes available.