The suspect in the deadly Allen, Texas, mass shooting was removed from the military over mental health concerns, according to a report.
Mauricio Garcia, 33, served a short military stint, a source told CNN without specifying when or for which branch.
Garcia also went through firearms training to work as a security guard, CNN reported, citing the Texas Department of Public Safety. He worked for at least three companies, including Ruiz Protective Service in Dallas, for several months in 2015.
“I don’t think there was anything remarkable about this guy,” Hector Ruiz, who runs Ruiz Protective Service, told CNN. “As a new employee he probably worked multiple sites. They usually just start off covering posts where people are absent or call off.”
Eight people died in the shooting Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets outdoor shopping center near Dallas. Garcia was killed by a police officer who happened to be there, according to authorities.
Investigators are looking into social media posts featuring white supremacist ideology that may have come from Garcia’s accounts, a law enforcement source told The Associated Press. The gunman wore a patch reading “RWDS,” an acronym that stands for “Right Wing Death Squad.” An AR-15-style rifle was allegedly among multiple weapons recovered.
Authorities have not named the victims, who ranged in age from 5 to 61. Family members said Christian LaCour, a 20-year-old mall security guard, was among those killed.
Aishwarya Thatikonda, an engineer who lived in nearby McKinney, also died in the shooting, a family representative told the Dallas-Fort Worth news station WFAA. Daniela Mendoza, who was in 4th grade, and her sister Sofia Mendoza, who was in 2nd grade, were killed as well, the Wylie Independent School District told families in an email Monday, remembering them as “rays of sunshine.” The district said their mother, Ilda, is in critical condition.
Thousands of people attended a vigil at Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen on Sunday evening. Among those in attendance was Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who didn’t speak at the service.
“There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of anger and violence that’s taking place in America, and what Texas is doing, in a big-time way, we are working to address that anger and violence by going to its root cause, which is addressing the mental health crisis behind it,” Abbott said earlier Sunday on Fox News.
President Biden called for a ban on assault weapons.
Allen is located 25 miles north of downtown Dallas.