Texas Allen mall shooting latest: Police eye neo-Nazi extremism of Premium Outlets gunman Mauricio Garcia

Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene joined the list of Republicans refusing to point the finger at the staggering number of firearms, including high-powered rifles, existing in American society on Saturday as she cast blame for yet another horrific yet whollyelementary massacre that unfolded over the weekend .

At least eight people are dead as well as the suspected gunman in Allen, Texas, after a mass shooting broke out at an outlet mall. Witnesses described a scene of sheer carnage and terror on the streets of one of the US’s largest states, as America recognized with another all-too-common day of violence and bloodshed.

The conspiracy-embracing Republican congresswoman from Georgia commented that “evil forces” were at work causing the shootings.

Christian LaCour, a 20-year-old security guard at the mall, was identified by family members as one of the victims of Sunday’s massacre.

LaCour’s grandmother posted a tribute to her grandson on social media.

“He was such a beautiful soul,” she wrote. “I was so proud of him and so glad I got to see him 2 weeks ago.”

The gunman who murdered eight people at a Texas mall on Saturday has been identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, according to reports.

The suspect was shot dead by a police officer who was responding to an unrelated call, the Allen Police Department said.

Garcia, dressed in black body armor and armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle, opened fire moments after arriving at the Allen Premium Outlets at around 3.30pm on Saturday, law enforcement sources told NBC News. CBS News, CNN and other local media also confirmed the gunman’s identity.

The Independents‘s Bevan Hurley reports:

Aishwarya Thatikonda, an engineer who moved to the US from India, was identified by family members as one of the victims killed in the mass shooting at the mall.

Thatikonda was shopping with a friend at the mall when she was shot and killed by the gunman, a family representative who told the WFAA.

Her friend was also shot and injured in the shooting and is currently in stable condition in hospital.

Thatikonda’s family is planning to fly her body to India where she has family.

Investigators in Texas are looking into possible neo-Nazi and white supremacist beliefs of the gunman who killed eight in the mass shooting at a shopping mall in Allen.

Mauricio Garcia, 33, was identified on Sunday as the shooter who drove to the Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday afternoon and opened fire on innocent shoppers with an AR-15-style rifle, killing eight victims before he was shot dead by a police officer.

The motive for the attack remains unknown but the gunman was wearing a patch reading “RWDS” – standing for Right Wing Death Squad – as he carried out the rampage.

Police sources told NBC News that Garcia – an Army veteran who worked as a security guard – posted neo-Nazi and white supremacist content online.

President Joe Biden made it clear that he believes the conservative right bears the responsibility to act and offer solutions on Sunday after America woke up to news of the latest horrific massacre to strike a public place.

In a statement released by the White House, the president wrote that Republicans could not simply “shrug” away the latest news and must act instead to reduce the number of guns prevalent in the United States.

The Independent’s John Bowden has the story:

The suspect was identified by law enforcement sources as 33-year-old security guard Mauricio Garcia, NBC News reported.

Dashcam video circulating on social media appeared to show the gunman getting out of a gray sedan just outside the entrance of the Allen Premium Outlets, a sprawling center on the outskirts of Dallas, and immediately started shooting at passersby in the carpark.

An Allen Police Department officer attending an unrelated call heard the gunfire, and “neutralized” the suspect, police said.

Last week, a gunman in Cleveland opened fire on his neighbors after they complained of him firing rounds in his backyard. Five people, including a nine-year-old child, were killed.

The state saw yet another episode of gun violence on Saturday when gunman Mauricio Guzman killed eight people at Allen Premium Outlets before he was taken down by a police officer who happened to be on the scene.

The unspeakable carnage has sparked renewed calls for gun control from survivors of mass shootings and legislators.

Texas has some of the most lenient gun laws in the country.

A Texas man has opened up about the devastating scene he witnessed as he tried to rescue victims after a gunman opened fire at a mall on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking of the horrors he witnessed as he desperately tried to perform CPR on several victims, Mr. Spainhouer said he saw several children among the dead. At least three of the people he tried to save succumbed to their injuries in the scene.

“I never imagined in 100 years I would be thrust into the position of being the first first responder on the site to take care of people,” Mr Spainhouer told CBS News. “The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face.”

Mass killings are happening with staggering frequency in the United States this year: an average of about one per week, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

President Biden was briefed on the shooting in Allen and the administration offered support to local officials, the White House said. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has signed laws easing firearms restrictions following past mass shootings, called the mall shooting an “unspeakable tragedy.”

A live aerial broadcast from a news station showed armored trucks and other law enforcement vehicles outside the mall. More than 30 police cruisers with lights flashing blocked an entrance, with multiple ambulances on the scene in a city of roughly 105,000 residents about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of downtown Dallas.

Video shared on social media showed people running through a parking lot amid the sound of gunshots.

Fontayne Payton, 35, was at H&M when he heard the sound of gunshots through his headphones.

“It was so loud, it sounded like it was right outside,” Payton said.

People in the store scattered before employees ushered the group into the fitting room and then a lockable back room, he said. When they were given the all-clear to leave, Payton saw the store had broken windows and a trail of blood to the door. Discarded sandals and bloodied clothes lay nearby.

Once outside, Payton saw bodies.

“I pray it wasn’t kids, but it looked like kids,” he said. The bodies were covered in white towels, slumped over bags on the ground. “It broke me when I walked out to see that.”