TX - Active shooter at Allen Shopping Mall, multiple victims, 6 May 2023

[imstilla.grandma]

Garcia also had a patch on his chest when he was killed by police that read "RWDS," an acronym for the phrase "Right Wing Death Squad," which is popular among right-wing extremists and white supremacy groups, the official said.

Investigators examine ideology of Texas gunman in deadly mall shooting

Authorities have been reviewing social media accounts they believe Mauricio Garcia used and posts that showed interest in white supremacist and neo-Nazi views, according to an official.

www.fox7austin.com

Several social media users pointed to the fact that the "RWDS" patch has also been worn by members of the far-right group Proud Boys.

"One of the Proud Boys who pled guilty to seditious conspiracy, Jeremy Bertino, wore the RWDS (right wing death squad) patch that was found on the Allen, Texas shooter. It's common among Proud Boys to wear it," Caraballo wrote.

What is "Right Wing Death Squad"? Gunman Mauricio Garcia's patch explained

Police have not yet said what the suspected shooter's motivation may have been but he had a significant social media presence.

www.newsweek.com

 

[girlhasnoname]

This could have been predicted, local reports are saying he served in the military and was discharged due to mental illness.
He should not have been a security guard with access to any gun, esp a AR15 and ammo.
Other reports are saying his car and motel room housed many guns and much more ammo.
Some reports say his brother also lives at the hotel.

Someone knew…
He was mentally unstable
former military
radicalized toward the far right
arming up for something
There will likely be social media posts with threats and predictions.
Sunday update local news
Be warned of video sights and sounds

JMO-
If you know someone unstable with guns- call the cops, call the ATF, get them committed for eval.
I don’t know what the answer is- but schools all over the nation should not be missing that it is May and we are approaching the one year anniversary of Uvalde.

Agree, a lot of these cases could have been prevented if the people in perpetrator's circle would have said something. Not every case, but a lot of them.

If you SEE something, SAY SOMETHING. Parents, family members, friends, especially.

JMO

 

[sds71]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1655565874395217920

 

[nao]

Moo...but the police or mental health can do nothing...until that person steps over the line and is a danger to themselves or others. Freedom of speech and belief is not a reason to remove someone's guns. Right or wrong that's the way it is....moo

 

[scapa]

Slightly different take with a snapshot of the town from here in the UK -- apologies if it has already been posted.

‘Like living in a war zone’: in towns like Allen, Texas guns are deeply ingrained

In conservative towns like Allen, where a shooter killed eight people on Saturday, guns are handed down from generation to generation

www.theguardian.com

** Also, I know it has a long history, and is perfectly germane in this sort of case, but everytime I see or hear the phrase "soft targets" I see our (once) wee bairns and now my infant nephew happy and safe in their own spaces, until those spaces are no longer safe through nothing they have done or can understand. It is a shattering thought, and increasingly hard to contain.

No ideology or practice, however ingrained or "traditional," should be immune from making way for better ones.

 

[Balthazar]

I'd have insisted on a translator too. Can you imagine their terror if suddenly confronted by police of all kinds in their house. I haven't seen details yet, but I kind of doubt that one very polite LE member hesitantly tapped on their door with hat in hand so to speak. imo

I'm hoping they knew nothing, apparently, iirc, he hasn't even lived with them for years(?).

He moved out in April 2023. LE took 3 or 4 boxes of his stuff from the parents home. He had been in his parents home for many years before that.

 

[Balthazar]

<modsnip - quoted post was general gun control discussion>
He was removed from the US Army in 2008 over mental health issues.

Allen, Texas mall shooter was removed from Army over mental health concerns: law enforcement sources

Suspected shooter Mauricio Garcia posted neo-Nazi material on social media before killing eight people and injuring seven more at Allen Premium Outlets, law enforcement sources said. An on-duty security guard is among those killed.

abc11.com

To me, that is a HUGE red flag. Not sure why this information was not available to prevent him from getting a job involvig guns or prevent him from legally buying guns and ammo. JMO.

 

[Ontario Mom]

He moved out in April 2023. LE took 3 or 4 boxes of his stuff from the parents home. He had been in his parents home for many years before that.

I wonder if his move was his choice or his parents booted him out?
I haven't seen much, except he recently moved into the extended stay motel.

 

[Ontario Mom]

He was removed from the US Army in 2008 over mental health issues.

Allen, Texas mall shooter was removed from Army over mental health concerns: law enforcement sources

Suspected shooter Mauricio Garcia posted neo-Nazi material on social media before killing eight people and injuring seven more at Allen Premium Outlets, law enforcement sources said. An on-duty security guard is among those killed.

abc11.com

To me, that is a HUGE red flag. Not sure why this information was not available to prevent him from getting a job involvig guns or prevent him from legally buying guns and ammo. JMO.

From your link:

Garcia had been living in some form of transient lodging, according to the law enforcement source. Law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News that preliminary information developed in the probe indicates that the shooter was in the U.S. Army in 2008 and was "removed due to mental health concerns." In addition to the insignia on the shooter's equipment that suggested a right-wing extremist ideology, investigators have found social media accounts connected to the shooter that reveal hundreds of postings and images, including writings with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, neo-Nazi material and material espousing the supremacy of the white race. None of the subject's postings analyzed to date were liked or shared by other users nor were there any public comments. The shooter's account did not contain any friends or associates that were publicly visible.

Okay so, in 2008 he would have been 18. Since he's 33 now, he's either hidden his mental health issues from everyone for the last 15 years, or more likely, everyone that knows him knows he has mental health issues.

Also, his social media accounts as reported, seem pretty weird. Hundreds of posts and images, yet NONE of them were liked or shared by anyone, and zero friends visible? I'm having a hard time with that one. Even the creepiest of creepy accounts has people liking and sharing their stuff. Yet this guy had zero likes, shares or comments?

 

[DS2021]

Also, his social media accounts as reported, seem pretty weird. Hundreds of posts and images, yet NONE of them were liked or shared by anyone, and zero friends visible?

Is it being reported there's zero interactions with his posts?

 

[Ontario Mom]

Is it being reported there's zero interactions with his posts?

Yep, this article does say that:

"None of the subject's postings analyzed to date were liked or shared by other users nor were there any public comments. The shooter's account did not contain any friends or associates that were publicly visible."

Allen, Texas mall shooter was removed from Army over mental health concerns: law enforcement sources

Suspected shooter Mauricio Garcia posted neo-Nazi material on social media before killing eight people and injuring seven more at Allen Premium Outlets, law enforcement sources said. An on-duty security guard is among those killed.

abc11.com

 

[NuttMegg]

Agree, a lot of these cases could have been prevented if the people in perpetrator's circle would have said something. Not every case, but a lot of them.

If you SEE something, SAY SOMETHING. Parents, family members, friends, especially.

JMO

If that was a military discharge for mental illness the onus is on the government to make sure he is prevented from purchasing weapons.

I have a relative who when 15 brought a knife to school as a stupid gee whiz look at how cool I am move. They have those zero tolerance rules, so to this day he can't join LE, even though those underage mistakes are supposed to be expunged after time. Wayback Machine knows everything. (Even though he is a vet with multiple successful, honorable deployments!!)

So why is it the parents duty (of a 33 year old man) to stop him from getting weapons, being a security grd, when the government already has the data re his discharge?

Too much to ask of the politicians to pass the pertinent laws? That's why I am dismissive of the politicians using mental health funding as a deterrent for mass shootings. I'm not down playing the importance of mental health availability, but I'm old enough to remember the decisions made in the 80's.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Though all killings are awful - this recent one in Allen, TX is especially heinous/horrific.

When I initially started following the case on 5/06, I initially thought the perp./shooter had an altercation with someone in the parking lot (of the shopping center) & lost it. However, when looking at the footage & reading the details, etc. - this looks like it was completely random.

It's a sad state of affairs that we can't even go out shopping, etc. without being worried about random acts of violence like this.

Glad that the brave officer took out this cowardly piece of %$#@. This obviously prevented even more innocent lives from being lost.

 

[girlhasnoname]

If that was a military discharge for mental illness the onus is on the government to make sure he is prevented from purchasing weapons.

I have a relative who when 15 brought a knife to school as a stupid gee whiz look at how cool I am move. They have those zero tolerance rules, so to this day he can't join LE, even though those underage mistakes are supposed to be expunged after time. Wayback Machine knows everything. (Even though he is a vet with multiple successful, honorable deployments!!)

So why is it the parents duty (of a 33 year old man) to stop him from getting weapons, being a security grd, when the government already has the data re his discharge?

Too much to ask of the politicians to pass the pertinent laws? That's why I am dismissive of the politicians using mental health funding as a deterrent for mass shoutings. I'm not down playing the importance of mental health availability, but I'm old enough to remember the decisions made in the 80's.

My point was IF you see your father, mother, son, daughter, sibling, friend, etc clearly in mental distress with a propensity for violence or making threats being made to hurt oneself or others, those people should be reported. Who else better to tip LE off? See something/say something. I'm not speaking of this killer in general.


MOO

 

[NuttMegg]

My point was IF you see your father, mother, son, daughter, sibling, friend, etc clearly in mental distress with a propensity for violence or making threats being made to hurt oneself or others, those people should be reported. Who else better to tip LE off? See something/say something. I'm not speaking of this killer in general.


MOO

Agreed, but we don't even know if this family saw any of that.

 

[NuttMegg]

Yep, this article does say that:

"None of the subject's postings analyzed to date were liked or shared by other users nor were there any public comments. The shooter's account did not contain any friends or associates that were publicly visible."

Allen, Texas mall shooter was removed from Army over mental health concerns: law enforcement sources

Suspected shooter Mauricio Garcia posted neo-Nazi material on social media before killing eight people and injuring seven more at Allen Premium Outlets, law enforcement sources said. An on-duty security guard is among those killed.

abc11.com

Easy on fb to make your friends' list private, ienot publicly visible. But presumably LE would know how to get in there. Maybe the accounts were private with a greyed-out avatar.

 

[Teche]

One of the shooting victims was from the Acadiana area. He was hit 3 times, survived, and undergoing surgery today.

 

[gitana1]

From your link:

"Also, the law enforcement officials said, Garcia had several social media accounts and appeared to be drawn to neo-Nazi and white supremacist content. He was also wearing, when he was killed, a patch on his chest with a right-wing acronym."

ETA: His family needed a translator but he's a white supremacist??

People in the US don’t always seem to realize that many Hispanics are 100% Caucasian.

Leading Neo-Nazi Website Is Now Publishing in Spanish

The Daily Stormer, a leading neo-Nazi website with racist and anti-semitic content which has also railed against Hispanic immigrants, is expanding its audience by publishing in Spanish.

www.nbcnews.com

But this guy may not be. Some people are self-hating.

 

[gitana1]

One of the shooting victims was from the Acadiana area. He was hit 3 times, survived, and undergoing surgery today.

My gosh. Grateful to hear of survivors.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Easy on fb to make your friends' list private, ienot publicly visible. But presumably LE would know how to get in there. Maybe the accounts were private with a greyed-out avatar.

Making your friend list private is one thing, but to post hundreds of posts, pictures, etc., and have zero likes, shares or comments is pretty much unheard of. Even more so if you're some sort of extremist. Social media is ground zero for people to find things to either promote or argue about, especially when it comes to controversial views. It just seems really weird to me that he had zero interaction on his social media.