Authorities on Sunday identified the shooter as a 33-year-old man who was a guest at a nearby motel and was responsible for the eight fatal shootings at a Texas outlet mall.
Mauricio Garcia, who was fatally shot by a police officer who just so happened to be nearby the suburban Dallas mall, was the shooter, according to three law enforcement sources who talked to The Associated Press.
The authorities discussed specifics of an ongoing inquiry under the condition of anonymity.
According to one of the officials, investigators have reportedly searched a motel and a house in the Dallas vicinity connected to the suspect.
The person added that after Garcia was shot to death, police discovered numerous firearms, including an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun.
The gunman’s name came to light as the Allen neighborhood grieved the victims and awaited updates on the seven injured.
At his weekly service, senior pastor John Mark Caton of Cottonwood Creek Church, about two miles from the mall, prayed for the victims, first responders, and the patrons and workers who “walked out past things they should never have seen.”
There were some of our people. There may be some in this space. According to Caton, this will permanently affect some of our students who worked in those stores.
He recalled phone calls with policemen and added, “There wasn’t an officer I talked to yesterday that at some point in the call didn’t cry.”
Following the shooting, the most recent atrocity to add to the extraordinary number of mass killings this year, the church organized an evening prayer vigil. Just a week prior, five people in Cleveland, Texas, were shot and killed when a neighbor requested a man to stop shooting his gun while a baby slept, according to investigators.
At Allen Premium Outlets, a sizable outdoor retail complex, police did not immediately release information about the victims, although witnesses claimed to have seen children among them.
Some claimed to have also seen what seemed to be an unconscious police officer and mall security guard.
Maxwell Gum, a 16-year-old worker at a pretzel store, recounted a virtual stampede of customers. He took refuge in a storage area with other people.
The shooter was seen in a dashcam video becoming viral online, stepping out of a car and firing at pedestrians. The sound of more than thirty rounds could be heard as the car that was filming the action accelerated.
According to Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd, seven individuals, including the shooter, perished at the site. At hospitals, two more persons passed away.
Three injured people were in critical condition on Sunday, and four others were in fair condition, according to a statement from the Allen Police Department.
When shots were fired at 3:36 p.m., an Allen police officer was nearby responding to a different complaint, the agency said on Facebook.
JOIN US ON WHAT'SAPP, TO GET INSTANT STATUS UPDATES AND BE IN THE KNOW.
CLICK HERE
