The gunman who murdered eight people at a Texas mall on Saturday has been identified as Mauricio Garcia, according to reports.
Garcia, 33, opened fire moments after arriving at the Allen Premium Outlets just after 3.30pm on Saturday, law enforcement sources told NBC News.
As we previously reported, reports began circulating that there was an active shooter at the Allen Premium Outlets mall, which sits in a suburb of Dallas. Shortly after the breaking news, video footage began circulating along with the reports — showing the exact moment the shooter exited their vehicle outside of an H&M store and began firing their weapon.
BREAKING – Texas Mall Mass Shooting: 33-Year-Old Mauricio Garcia Identified as Gunmanhttps://t.co/oPfjzOxD5e pic.twitter.com/CmZIWSZnTF
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) May 7, 2023
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In a statement on the attack earlier on Sunday, President Biden said the shooter had used “an AR-15 style assault weapon” and wore “tactical gear,” and that children were among the fatalities. Biden ordered flags on federal buildings lowered to half-staff to honor the victims.
Saturday’s attack was reportedly the second-deadliest mass shooting of 2023, according to data from the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive. The only attack to be more than was the January shooting in Monterey Park, Calif., that left 11 people dead.
Steven Spainhouer, whose son worked at the H&M store at the scene of the shooting, told CBS News Texas that he rushed to help the wounded after his son called to say there had been an attack.
“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,” he told the outlet.
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Spainhouer said he also found a boy covered in blood who had survived the shooting while being protected by his mother, who was killed.
“No one can see what we saw today and not be affected by it,” Spainhouer added. “It’s not a situation I would wish upon anybody, it’s just unfathomable to see carnage.”
There have been 199 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The group defines a mass shooting as any event in which at least four people are shot.
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