Official: Officer saved 'countless lives' ending Texas mall attack
The mass shooting at a suburban Dallas shopping mall lasted three to four minutes before a local police officer shot and killed the gunman, authorities said Tuesday. The Allen police officer who shot and killed 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia acted heroically and saved “countless lives” through his quick action, Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference. He said the officer is still processing what happened and isn’t ready to have his name made public. The investigation into Garcia's motive is ongoing, but he expressed “neo-Nazi" beliefs, Sibley said. Garcia had no criminal history before he opened fire at Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday, he said. Investigators are still trying to determine why Mauricio Garcia opened fire Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets, Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference. Garcia, 33, researched when the mall in Allen was busiest — Saturday afternoons — and posted photos on social media in mid-April of a store near where he ultimately started his attack, which ended with police killing him. Among the dead were two elementary school-age sisters, a couple and their 3-year-old son, and a security guard. An Associated Press review of his online activity shows he also betrayed a fascination with white supremacy and mass shootings, which he described as sport. Photos Garcia posted showed large Nazi tattoos on his arm and torso, including a swastika and the SS lightning bolt logo of Hitler’s paramilitary forces.
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Social media has law enforcement facing increasing pressure to release information fast amid a surge of mass shootings.
