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It took just 4 minutes for Mauricio Garcia to kill 8 people in Texas mall shooting
It took just four minutes for Texas mall shooter Mauricio Garcia to kill eight people and wound seven others when he opened fire in the parking lot at the Allen Premium Outlets mall in Allen on Saturday.
A timeline from police and eyewitnesses offers a look at how the shocking shooting broke out, when the gunman was killed by responding officers, and the chaotic aftermath.
3:36 p.m.: Garcia, 33, arrives at the mall outside an H&M store in a gray Dodge Charger, wearing a tactical vest and armed with a semi-automatic assault rifle.
Garcia fires into the crowd of shoppers, killing five adults and three children. The hail of bullets also left seven others injured.
The attack occurred when the mall was typically at its most crowded on Saturdays, according to Google data that was shared by the gunman weeks prior to the shooting on social media.
At the time of the shooting, an Allen Police Department officer was at the mall responding to a call about an unrelated case.
3:37 p.m.: The officer, who has asked for his privacy to be respected in the aftermath of the bloodbath, makes a frantic call for backup as he dashes toward the sounds of gunfire. He yells that people are running away from an active shooter.
3:40 p.m.: The Allen Police Department confirms that the responding officer was able to neutralize Garcia and put an end to the carnage.
Steven Spainhouer, an Army veteran and former cop, also rushed to the scene after his son, who works at the H&M, called him about the gunfire. Spainhouer tried to perform CPR on three victims but was unable to save any of them.
What we know about Texas mall shooter Mauricio Garcia
The gunman who killed eight people and injured seven others before being shot dead by police at a Texas outlet mall has been identified as Mauricio Garcia, 33.
A look into Garcia’s past revealed:
- He served in the Army in 2008 but was eventually “removed due to mental health concerns,” law enforcement sources told local ABC 30.
- Garcia had undergone several firearms proficiency courses in 2015 and 2018 as part of his security guard work
- Investigators began probing whether Garcia held neo-Nazi views after police found a patch on his chest with the acronym “RWDS,” which stands for “Right Wing Death Squad”
- Garcia also appeared to be casing his target for weeks. He shared more than two dozen photos of the outlets on extremist forums in the weeks leading up to his mass shooting, seemingly determining what would be the most packed time at the mall to unleash the greatest carnage, NBC said.
- The mass shooter alluded to his declining mental health, too. One of his final posts lamented that no psychologist would be able to fix him and his fears of what his family might say about him.
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Despite the heartbreak over the three victims, one of whom was a little girl, Spainhouer was able to rescue a blood-soaked child who survived the violence by taking shelter beneath his slain mother.
4:22 p.m.: First responders were out in full force at the mall and began evacuating shoppers and those who took shelter inside the outlet.
4:55 p.m.: A news chopper flying over the mall showed footage of at least four white sheets covering the bodies of the victims outside the H&M.
5:00 p.m.: A crowd of hundreds of people were seen walking out of the outlet with their hands up as police officers led the procession and promised to reunite shoppers with their parked cars at a later time.
11:53 p.m.: Police and FBI agents searched for evidence at a home in Northeast Dallas that belonged to Garcia’s parents, and where he had been spotted in recent weeks.
Officials also searched a motel room at the Budget Suites of America in Dallas where Garcia had booked an extended stay.
Some time after Garcia was killed, a YouTube video from an account officials believed to be his was automatically uploaded.
In the video, Garcia removes a Scream mask to reveal his face as he asks viewers: “Not quite what you were expecting, huh?”
