During a Tuesday press conference, spokesmen from the Allen Police Department, FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety praised the still-unnamed Allen officer who shot and killed gunman Mauricio Garcia. Hank Sibley of the DPS also confirmed that Garcia had eight weapons on Saturday and that all of them were purchased legally.
On Tuesday night The Dallas Morning News published audio from calls made by responding officers to Collin County dispatchers as the attack occurred.
“‘We got shots fired at the outlet mall,’ the unnamed officer tells a dispatcher,” the Morning News report states. “The dispatcher repeats his call for other authorities on the channel. ‘Received, shots fired at the outlet mall,’ the dispatcher is heard saying. A few seconds later, the officer describes seeing people running, and another officer says he’s on the way from the local In-n-Out Burger, less than a mile away.”
The audio continues with an officer urgently calling for help, saying “I need everybody I got,” before later saying “the shooter is down.”
Also on Tuesday night, NBC 5 shared security video taken inside the Fatburger location inside the mall where a teen employee can be seen helping at least a dozen customers escape to safety out of the restaurant’s back door. Police have said that the mall is no longer an active crime scene and that it will be up to property management to decide when it will reopen.
“We got shots fired at the outlet mall." – Unnamed Allen police officer
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Accounts from shoppers at the Allen Premium Outlets at the time of the shooting have begun popping up from outside of the state. A pastor and his wife from Shreveport, Louisiana, had driven to Allen for a shopping trip. Leroy Ealy, and his wife, Jo Ann Ealy, say they barely missed being shot, according to KTAL 6.
“The last three shots he pointed in our direction he was shooting but I don’t know, it went over my head,” Leroy Ealy told KTAL. “But I was zigzagging, trying to get her [Jo Ann] because she was laying flat, but she was telling me to go go go, but I couldn’t leave her in that position because I thought she was shot in the back.”
As of the Tuesday press conference, authorities have yet to determine Garcia’s motive for the attack, but a likely motivation has begun to crystalize. As Sibley confirmed on Tuesday, Garcia “had neo-Nazi ideation,” and was found to have patches on his clothing, as well as tattoos, indicating he identified with far right and white supremacist groups. The FBI said they are examining Garcia’s social media accounts and electronic devices for further evidence of his motivations.
Eight lives were taken from us in Allen, including three children. Despite the deep pain I feel alongside every Texan, I believe it doesn’t have to be this way.
— Rep. Colin Allred (@RepColinAllred) May 10, 2023
I know we can pass common sense solutions to save lives.
Watch my speech from last night on the House floor. pic.twitter.com/ZyXw8WnK5g
Garcia was reportedly an active social media user and had posted a number of comments against minority groups and women. NBC also noted that Garcia’s social media activity suggested he had scouted the Allen Premium Outlets as a possible location for an attack prior to May 6.
“In one of the warrants, investigators describe images from a YouTube video entitled ‘Psychovision Face Reveal,’ posted on the day of the shooting,” the report said. “Investigators said they believe the video shows the gunman wearing a ‘Scream’ mask, then removing the mask to reveal his face.”
Police have said they believe Garcia was targeting the location but not specific individuals. But Garcia’s suspected white supremacist leanings, combined with the fact that all but one of those who were killed were not white has led some to wonder if that was really the case.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy wrote, “Racist hatred is showing in Texas again, in a region and state that don’t want to talk about it.”
On Tuesday night, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas, who recently announced he is running against Republican Ted Cruz for his seat in the U.S. Senate, spoke about the Allen shooting from the House floor. “I grieve with my fellow Texans as we endure yet another mass shooting,” he said after reading the names of the eight who died in the attack. “The wounds from that day will be with our community forever. It impacts all of us.”
