Another shooting incident rocked the United States when a gunman shot and killed eight people and injured at least seven others at a busy mall north of Dallas on Saturday (May 6).
The gunman has been identified as Mauricio Garcia, the officials said, further adding that the suspect had apparently interacted with neo-Nazi and white supremacist content online, NBC News reported citing two senior law enforcement officials.
But the reports are being probed as a law enforcement official told The Associated Press that federal officials are looking to identify the motive behind the deadly attack.
In its report, the US-based media outlet further mentioned that the 33-year-old suspect posted such content himself. He also consumed such content online and had several social media accounts. The accounts were not verified yet.
The gunman was killed by a police officer and the authorities reportedly found him with a patch, which had a right-wing acronym, on his chest. The official said that the patch read “RWDS,” an acronym for the phrase “Right Wing Death Squad”. RWDS is quite popular among right-wing extremists and white supremacy groups.
He was armed with tactical gear and an AR-15-style rifle at the time of the shooting.
Chief Brian Harvey of the Allen police department said that a police officer was in the mall on an unrelated call when gunfire broke out around 3:30 pm (2030 GMT).
Harvey added, “He heard gunshots, went to the gunshots, engaged the suspect and neutralised the suspect. He also then called for ambulances.”
Fire chief Jonathan Boyd of Allen, Texas, said that the authorities found seven deceased individuals on the scene. “We transported nine individuals to the hospital… Of those we transported, two have since died,” Boyd added.
Who was Mauricio Garcia?
Apart from reports on his ideologies, other details about the shooting suspect are not yet known. CBS News Texas in its reports quoted the neighbours as saying that Garcia was they didn’t know a lot about the gunman, who did not have a serious criminal record.
The members of the locality also told the media outlet that Garcia used to come and go to work. He used to be donned in a uniform that looked similar to a security guard’s, but he said he kept to himself mostly.
The neighbours also told that they saw FBI personnel remove three-to-four boxes from his parents’ home. The officers were seen speaking with them in the front yard.
As quoted, neighbour Moises Carreon said: “It sends a chill down your spine. We know our neighbours…but how much do we know about our neighbours? That’s kind of the question we’ll never know.”
Reports mentioned that authorities conducted two search warrants, one was at Garcia’s parents’ home in northeast Dallas. The other search was at a nearby Extended Stay where he had recently been living.
Watch this report:
US gun violence
The latest act of gun violence is just an addition to the massive problem faced by the nation and civilians at this moment, with US President Joe Biden again urging for a national assault weapons ban and other gun safety measures in order to take action against a gun “epidemic”.
Biden tweeted: “Yesterday, an assailant in tactical gear armed with an AR-15 style assault weapon gunned down innocent people in a shopping mall, and not for the first time. Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar. We need more action, faster to save lives.”
“I find no rational reason why assault weapons should be able to be sold. Period. And I promise I’m going to right at it again when they get back in session,” he added.
Just a week earlier, a man shot and killed five neighbours in Cleveland after one of them asked him to stop firing his rifle in his yard at night. Not just in Texas, such incidents have been taking place in parts of the country as well—some on petty disputes.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, the United States has already endured 199 mass shootings this year and the fifth month of this year has just begun. The Gun Violence Archive is a non-governmental organisation that defines a mass shooting as four or more people wounded or killed.
Meanwhile, the Mass Shooting Tracker the latest Texas maas shooting was the 242nd the in nation this year—the figure is definitely alarming.
Biden weighed in on the current situation as he said that “too many families have empty chairs at their dinner tables. Republican members of Congress cannot continue to meet this epidemic with a shrug.” He said, “Thoughts and prayers are not enough.” Biden had also ordered US flags lowered to half-staff “as a mark of respect for the victims”.
The US has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country – 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before. In America, the US Constitution’s Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms, which has become a hot topic of debate across the nation.
(With inputs from agencies)
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