Tragedy at Allen Outlet Mall: Mauricio Garcia Identified as Shooter Responsible for Killing Nine

So far, the motives of the gunman who carried out the shooting at Allen Premium Outlets remain a mystery. The tragic incident killed nine people, including suspects. Residents and most people in suburban Dallas began to process this sad event Sunday. 

Police reported that a gunman attacked a crowd of shoppers at the busy outdoor mall on Saturday at around 3.30pm local time. With more than 120 stores, the mall is a place of eerie chaos. A video posted on social media shows a man dressed in black getting out of a silver car in the parking lot and opening fire. Other footage shows people running for cover or running in parking lots as a loud pop is heard in the background. At least seven other people were injured in this incident.

Who was the shooter at the Allen outlet mall?

The shooter's identity was revealed by the Texas Department of Public Safety on Sunday as Mauricio Garcia, 33, of Dallas. According to two law enforcement officials, Garcia allegedly adhered to white supremacist ideology, but it was not yet known whether this act amounted to an act of domestic terrorism. Garcia acted alone and was shot dead by a police officer unrelated to his duties at the mall.

Who was the victim of the shooting at the Allen outlet mall?

Police confirmed that nine people, including the perpetrator, have died as a result of the shooting. In addition, at least seven other people were injured and are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. The injured who were hospitalized ranged in age from 5 to 61, and several children were among those killed, President Biden indicated in a statement on Sunday. At this time, the victims have not been publicly identified.

What did the witnesses see?

One of the witnesses, Geoffrey Keaton, was having lunch with his 16-year-old daughter at Fatburger in the mall when they heard gunshots. Keaton put the baby girl under the table to protect her and felt the gunshots getting closer as if the perpetrator was there.

Mr Keaton stated that the restaurant manager had allowed customers to hide behind, where they could then exit through the back door and run to their cars. A live broadcast from local Fox affiliate showed a number of buyers being evacuated in an orderly fashion from the store. "It was a bit chaotic for a moment," said Kaleo Palakiko, 36. "Then when someone said, 'Shooter,' we all ran to the back of the store." Mr Palakiko and his parents hid in a warehouse for about 45 minutes before they were released by the police and walked out with their hands raised.

How does this shooting compare to others this year? The Saturday attack was the second deadliest shooting of the year, following the massacre in Monterey Park, California on January 21, where an armed man killed 11 people at a ballroom. According to the Gun Violence Archive, a database of shootings in the United States, there have been 199 "mass shootings," defined by the archive as shootings of at least four people, in 2023. Over the weekend, an armed man killed five people in Cleveland, Texas, near Houston, after he was asked by a neighbor to stop shooting in his yard. He was arrested after a several-day manhunt. On Monday, a registered sex offender shot and killed six people, including his wife and three children, near Tulsa, Okla., before shooting himself. On Wednesday, an armed man opened fire on a medical office building in Atlanta, killing one person and injuring four others. It also led to a manhunt before the suspect was arrested.***