May 8, 2023 - Texas outlet mall shooting news

Editor’s note: This post contains graphic descriptions of violence.

A Navy combat veteran described a horrific scene with a pile of victims – some dead, others with gruesome gunshot wounds – when he attempted to offer emergency care after Saturday’s mass shooting in a Texas outlet mall.

Joshua Barnwell, who has training in emergency care, hid in the Lucky Jeans store at the mall when the shooting erupted – and when he felt it was safe to do so, he left the store to go tend to those injured. 

Barnwell told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday night that when he arrived in front of the H&M store he noticed gunshot-blasted windows and then he saw several victims lying in the area, including a child who was dead, and other people with vicious injuries in a landscaped area.

“I noticed in front of it was a woman who had collapsed on top of herself and had perished there. Then I turned my gaze toward the left, and I noticed a gentleman there who was writhing in pain. He had what appeared to be a shoulder wound. He was actually in the flower bed. There was a young child – my guess at the time was between 6 and 8 years old – that was lying there. Her state was unknown but did not look promising. Next to her was an adult woman who had multiple vicious gunshot wounds. She had the head of a young lady draped on her left shoulder facing downward, who also appeared to have multiple, very traumatic injuries and gunshot wounds. At the foot of that young lady was a pile, with a man on top, who was again writhing in pain with what appeared to be a shoulder or chest wound. And below him was a deceased woman, that I later found out was his wife, and then he had a young child with him — maybe 5 or 6 years old — that was just drenched in blood.”

Barnwell said he went to tend to a woman who was injured and she asked him to take care of her daughter. Barnwell began CPR on the child when he said a “vile amount of blood came out” from the girl’s back and he realized the child was dead.

He returned to her mother, who had atrocious bullet wounds. “Please fight and be there for the family that you have,” Barnwell said he told the woman.

Barnwell continued to do what he could until ambulances arrived. “When they arrived there were too many wounded for them to handle,” so he kept applying tourniquets and compression bandages to aid the wounded.

Barnwell said the reason he agreed to interviews was to share that he wanted people to “understand the depths of the depravity that occurred.”

The term “incel” is everywhere. What was once a niche piece of internet slang now populates international headlines and is a frequent topic in discussions about gender, misogyny, violence and extremism.

“Incel” is a portmanteau of “involuntary celibate.” In its most basic form, incel describes someone, usually a male, who is frustrated by their lack of sexual experiences.

The Anti-Defamation League, which works to address hate and extremism, defines incels as “heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success.”

“Incel” can also be used as a pejorative to describe someone who has misogynistic viewpoints or behaviors.

The person credited with coining the term “incel” was actually a woman. Alana, who is known only by her first name, first popularized the term in the 1990s through a personal website called “Alana’s Involuntary Celibacy Project.” The term “incel” became a part of the language she used with her followers as they discussed feelings of shyness and social awkwardness. However, as the term spread, it began to take on different meanings.

“With a term like ‘incel,’ and with any term of identity, the definition lies in how people use it to describe themselves and others,” Brette Steele, senior director for Preventing Targeted Violence at the McCain Institute, tells CNN. “That explains why the origins of incel differ from its current usage, and why it’s so hard to arrive at one exact definition.”

Read more about the history of the word and how it is used in popular culture here.

An employee working at the Allen Premium Outlets on the day of the shooting described loud, nonstop gunshots as she ran from the mall.

Andria Gaither had just gotten back from her lunch break on Saturday around 3:30 p.m. local time when the shooting began, she told CNN.

Gaither said she was in the back of the store when she noticed two young girls who began hiding in the clothing rack and fitting room. She said her boss was ushering customers into the back of the store to hide from the gunfire.

She briefly hid in a fitting room before deciding to run out of the emergency exit to get to safety.

Gaither said she knew one of the victims of the shooting, Christian LeCour, who was a security guard at the mall. She described LeCour as a “protector to all of the people that were working in the mall” and someone who was genuine and very kind.

LeCour was among the eight people killed in the second-deadliest US mass shooting of the year. You can read more about the victims here.

Police are continuing to investigate what led a gunman to open fire at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, over the weekend.

Eight people were killed and seven more were wounded in the shooting Saturday, officials said.

These are the victims:

Here’s what else we know so far:

The gunman who killed eight people at a Texas outlet mall appears to have written approvingly about Nazi ideology, shared images of his many firearms and posted a photo of the mall on a social media website in the weeks before the shooting.

A user on the Russian social media website Odnoklassniki posted photos of several receipts and an airline ticket with Mauricio Garcia’s name, and also listed a birthdate matching Garcia’s — who has been identified as the suspected shooter by police. A law enforcement source confirmed to CNN that investigators believe the account belonged to Garcia.

The account also posted a screenshot from Google Maps showing what times of day the mall in Allen, Texas, was busiest, a few weeks before the shooting.

In a rambling post from the day of the shooting – the account’s final correspondence – Garcia quoted from South Park and other movies and TV shows, and alluded to his struggles with undisclosed personal problems.

“Even if I did go to a psychologist,” the post read, “Their (sic) not going to be able to fix with whatevers wrong with me. Besides that shit’s expensive.”

Garcia also posted photos of a man’s shirtless torso with a large swastika tattoo over the heart. It’s not clear whether the man pictured is Garcia.

The existence of the account was first reported by the New York Times, and it was later identified by a researcher with the open-source intelligence website Bellingcat.

Garcia self-identified in some posts as an “incel,” a term that the Anti-Defamation League defines as “heterosexual men who blame women and society for their lack of romantic success.” Some posts were sexist and expressed anger toward women.

Another post expressed anger toward family members who “mocked any attempt I made to be masculine…” and “told me I was disturbed…” Yet another described people making jokes or awkward comments about the poster’s likelihood of committing mass murder.

Other photos posted on Garcia’s account include various firearms, some of which, the user wrote, he acquired in recent months. There are also photos of a body armor vest with an RWDS patch – an acronym for Right-Wing Death Squad – that authorities have said Garcia wore during the shooting.

In an April 24 post, Garcia praised the shooter in the Nashville school massacre that killed six people, including three children, the month before, referring to the number of people murdered. 

Other posts espoused antisemitism and echoed the “replacement theory,” the false notion that a conspiracy is underway to make the US population less White. Some gunmen motivated by racism said they were inspired by the theory.

Aishwarya Thatikonda, one of the eight people killed in the Texas mall shooting, graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2020 with a master’s degree.

“We were deeply saddened to learn this morning that an Eastern Michigan University graduate, Aishwarya Thatikonda, was among those killed in Saturday’s shooting at a mall outside of Dallas, Texas,” the university said in a statement. “Aishwarya graduated from Eastern in Dec. 2020 with a Master of Science in construction management.”

Thatikonda moved to the US about five years ago to pursue her Master’s degree and was just a few days away from turning 28 when she was killed, CNN has previously reported.

She worked as an engineer, a family representative told CNN affiliate WFAA.

“As the nation has to once again grapple with a senseless act of gun violence, we share our condolences with Aishwarya’s family and friends,” Eastern Michigan University’s statement read. “She will forever be remembered as a strong Eastern Michigan University Eagle.”

Multiple weapons owned by the Allen outlet mall shooting suspect, including the AR-15-style rifle used in the attack, were purchased legally, a law enforcement source told CNN.

Most of the weapons were purchased from private sellers, which is legal in Texas and means the suspect, Mauricio Garcia, did not go through a background check.

The shooter obtained his weapons “over time,” the source said, adding, “This was not an instance where he rushed to buy weapons prior to the attack.”

Garcia moved out of his family residence about two months ago and the family had not seen much of him since, according to the source.

The family has been cooperative with law enforcement and there is no indication that they knew about Garcia’s attack plans or propensity for violence.

A motive has not yet been identified by authorities, but they continue to look at the domestic extremism angle.

Law enforcement officials do not feel they have a “complete picture” of the suspect’s past and are continuing to dig into his background, the source added.

Mauricio Garcia, the man who opened fire at an Allen, Texas, outlet mall on Saturday, killing eight people and wounding several others, graduated from Bryan Adams High School in 2008, the Dallas Independent School District confirmed to CNN.

The school is roughly 8 miles from downtown Dallas and about 25 miles from the Allen Premium Outlets, where the massacre unfolded.

No official motive for the attack has yet been released.

The White House is once again calling for Congress to act on gun control after a mass shooting in Allen, Texas, over the weekend. 

“Today is Monday, May 8, that means it is the 128th day of 2023 and yesterday we witnessed the 201st mass shootings in this country this year,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.

Jean-Pierre listed places where there have been mass shootings, including schools, shopping malls and churches. She said enacting gun control legislation is “about protecting our everyday life” as she called on Congress to take action.

The White House has implied in the past that President Joe Biden has reached the limit on how much he can act on gun control measures through executive order. 

Asked if the president had been briefed on reports that the shooter may have been motivated by right-wing extremism and white supremacist rhetoric, Jean-Pierre declined to weigh in on the specific case. 

“Broadly speaking, as it relates to the right-wing organization that he was connected to, or has been reported to be connected to, we have spoken out consistently about the concerning rise in hate-fueled violence in this country,” she said. “The president has talked about this in great length including in discussing how we need to restore the soul of this nation.”

Some context: Authorities have not announced a motive for why the gunman, 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, opened fire at Allen Premium Outlets. Garcia, who was killed at the scene by an Allen police officer who was on a nearby call, was wearing an insignia that authorities believe may be associated with extremist groups, a senior law enforcement source familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Investigators have unearthed an extensive social media presence, including neo-Nazi and White supremacist-related posts and images that authorities believe Garcia shared online, according to the source.

Three Korean Americans have been identified as victims of the mass shooting in Allen, Texas, on Saturday.

The Houston office of the South Korean Consulate confirmed that Cho Kyu Song, 37, Kang Shin Young, 35, and their child were killed, according to the Dallas Morning News. They did not give the name or age of the child who was killed.

According to a GoFundMe post written by friends of the family, “Cindy, Kyu and three year old James were among those victims that tragically lost their lives and the family is in deep mourning. After being released from the ICU, their six year old son William is the only surviving member of this horrific event.”

The family had visited the mall together during an “afternoon that should have been filled with light, love and celebration unfortunately was cut short by another mass shooting massacre that left 8 victims dead,” the verified GoFundMe said.

Two elementary school students from the Wylie Independent School District have been identified as victims of the outlet mall shooting in Allen, Texas.

Sisters Daniela Mendoza, a fourth-grader, and Sofia Mendoza, a second-grader, were identified in a letter that was sent to parents by Wylie ISD.

Their mother, Ilda Mendoza, is in the hospital in critical condition, the letter says.

“Words cannot express the sadness we feel as we grieve the loss of our students,” the letter reads in part, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Mendoza family, the families of the victims, and all those affected by this senseless tragedy.”

The school district said it is not announcing this news to the students and is leaving it up to the parents to have that conversation with their children.

Counseling services are being offered for students, staff and families, the letter says.

Cox Elementary School Principal, Krista Wilson, described the sisters as “rays of sunshine,” according to the letter.

“Our love for our kiddos and each other will get us through this,” the letter reads, “Daniela and Sofia will not be forgotten. Hug your kids, and tell them you love them.”

Mauricio Garcia, the suspected Texas mall shooter, was terminated after three months in the army and did not complete basic training, according to an army spokesperson.

Garcia entered the Army in June 2008 but was not given a specific job, called a military occupational specialty, said army spokesperson Heather Hagan.  

He had no deployments or awards during his short time in the army, Hagan added.

Garcia was separated because of designated physical or mental health conditions, according to an Army official.

A US defense official said Garcia was separated because of a mental health condition. Garcia received a mental health evaluation before his separation, the official said.

Under Army regulations at the time that Garcia was separated, a commander can approve separation of a service member for physical or mental health conditions that interfere with an assignment or performance of duty.

One person who was taken to a children’s hospital after Saturday’s shooting at the Allen, Texas, outlet mall is now in good condition, the health care system said.

That patient was transported to Medical City Children’s Hospital and was previously listed in fair condition, CNN reported Sunday. The age of that patient has not been released. 

At Medical City McKinney, three people remain in critical condition and one person is in fair condition. Another patient is in fair condition at Medical City Plano, according to the statement Monday from Medical City Healthcare.

Eight people were killed in the shooting and at least seven people were hurt when a gunman, CNN reported.  

Texas Democratic state lawmakers are speaking out with frustration, anger and even tears over the gun safety proposals that have languished in the legislative session and demanding action be taken.

“Texans want common sense gun reform,” state Sen. Carol Alvarado said at a news conference in Austin. “This is insane, y’all. This is absolutely nuts that we are standing here again,” she said, noting that 39 gun reform bills have been proposed and there’s yet to be a hearing on a single one. 

The comments come after a gunman killed eight people at a shopping mall in an affluent Texas suburb on Saturday, the second-deadliest US mass shooting of the year.

“That’s why we’re here today, because Gov. (Greg) Abbott and (Lt. Gov.) Dan Patrick and everybody like them have made this country this state more dangerous by having no gun laws,” said state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, the site of another mass shooting in Texas in May 2022.

Elements of the pending proposals address mental health, implementing age restrictions on gun ownership, adding red flag protective orders and closing gun show loopholes.

One specific bill, HB 2744, which aims to raise the legal age for owning an AR-15-style semiautomatic weapon to 21, remains in committee.

Referring to guns, Wu said, “We value things over people. At some point, the people blocking the laws that could help prevent these type of tragedies – at some point they take ownership of some of these tragedies.”

Mauricio Garcia, the suspect in the Allen, Texas, mall shooting, served for a brief period in the US military but was removed due to concerns about his mental health, a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation tells CNN. 

The source could not specify the branch Garcia served in or the time period.

CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

Aishwarya Thatikonda was one of one of the eight people killed Saturday when a man opened fire at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, according to CNN affiliate WFAA.

Thatikonda, an engineer who lived in McKinney, Texas, was with a friend at the outlet mall when the shooting began, according to a family representative, WFAA reported. Her family, who lives in India, told the station they plan to have her body sent to India.

Her friend was injured in the shooting and is currently in stable condition at a hospital, WFAA reports.

Thatikonda was a few days away from turning 28, according to Ashok Kolla, a spokesperson with the Telugu Association of North America.

She moved to the United States about five years ago to pursue her master’s degree, Kolla said, adding that her family and friends describe her as a loving and hard-working person who was respected by her co-workers.

The organization has been in contact with Thatikonda’s family and are working to arrange the return of her remains to India, Kolla said.

There have been more than 200 mass shootings in the US so far this year just within the first five months of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter.

That means there have been more shootings than days so far this year and more shootings than at this point in any year since at least 2013. Last year, the country reached 200 mass shootings on May 15, according to the Archive.

Here’s how 2023 compares with previous years:

The Texas outlet mall shooter, Mauricio Garcia, had worked for at least three security companies and had undergone hours of firearms proficiency training in recent years, according to a database maintained by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

None of the companies immediately responded to requests for comment.

The 33-year-old was approved to work as a security guard in Texas from April 2016 until April 2020, when his license expired, according to his profile in the Texas Online Private Security database.

As part of his work, Garcia received Level II and Level III security training. Level II covers security laws in Texas. Level III, which is required for all commissioned security officers and personal protection officers in Texas, includes firearm training and the demonstration of firearm proficiency, according to Jonah Nathan, vice president of Ranger Guard, a security guard service in Texas not affiliated with Garcia’s employers.

In 2018, Garcia completed a separate firearms proficiency training course, which required six hours of continuing education, according to the database.

It’s unclear why Garcia’s license expired.

Private security guards in Texas undergo background checks and are disqualified if they have committed certain crimes such as assault, burglary or sexual offenses, among others, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety website and state codes.

They are also disqualified if they have been dishonorably discharged from the US military; have been found incompetent by a court of law; or have been required to register as a sex offender.

Warning: This post contains graphic descriptions of violence.

Witness accounts, videos and photos obtained by CNN paint a vivid picture of the fear and devastation the gunman caused before he was killed by an officer who police say was already on the scene when the shooting happened.

Mauricio Garcia began firing in the parking lot near the mall’s H&M store after he got out of his car, according to video obtained by CNN. Another witness video shows shoppers – some with small children – screaming, running and ducking behind rows of cars as the shots ring out.

Steven Spainhouer rushed to the scene after receiving a call from his son, who works at the H&M and had taken shelter in a break room. When he arrived in the parking lot outside the store, he “started counting the bodies on the ground … one, two, three, five, six, seven bodies.”

“I saw moms and dads covering the eyes of their kids in tears, kids holding their hands up, people running for their lives,” he said.

He found a surviving child whose mother had been struck and killed as she shielded him from bullets, Spainhouer told CNN affiliate KTVT.

“When I rolled the mother over, he came out,” Spainhouer told the affiliate. “He was covered from head to toe, like somebody had poured blood on him.”

Allen police subsequently disputed parts of Spainhouer’s account, noting “inconsistencies” between his media interviews and the facts of the investigation. The department said it conducted a follow-up interview with Spainhouer and “determined that [he] is not a credible incident witness.” According to the police department, Spainhouer did not perform CPR, and did not move a deceased mother who was covering a child who survived the shooting. In response, Spainhouer stood by his account, said he was “hurt and disappointed,” and clarified that “a small child pulled himself from under a victim and I assisted him to a safe space away from the area.”

At the scene of the shooting, as the gunman entered and made his way through the mall, shoppers yelled warnings to each other and fled as many store employees rushed to shelter customers in storage rooms or back hallways, according to several witness accounts.

Max Weiss, an 18-year-old mall store employee, described hiding with coworkers and customers in a pair of rooms at the back of the store as “the most terrifying moment of my life.”

“I immediately reached out to both of my parents, told them I was OK,” Weiss said. “But I had other things to take care of. I had to make sure that the store was OK, and that the team was OK and that the customers in there were OK.”

A witness in a cosmetic store at the northeast corner of the building said he watched as the shooter passed by firing his gun. Moments later, a pursuing police officer passed, rounding the corner and firing ahead of him “down range,” he said.

A photo obtained by CNN shows the gunman – clad in black and tactical gear – lying on the ground after being shot outside a Fatburger restaurant location.

This article was updated on May 16 to reflect the Allen Police Department’s statement disputing parts of Steven Spainhouer’s eyewitness account — and Spainhouer’s response to the police press release. 

CNN’s Ashley Killough, Michelle Watson, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Bob Ortega, Curt Devine, Keith Allen, Jillian Sykes, Holly Yan, Christina Maxouris, Sharif Paget and Jason Kravarik contributed to this report.

The Allen shopping center where a gunman killed eight people and injured several others will remain closed — but authorities will allow people to continue retrieving their cars on Monday, according to an FBI news release.

“The Outlets will remain closed, and no one will be allowed to enter any store,” the news release read.

“Vehicle retrieval will resume 10 AM-2 PM at The Edge Skate Park…Please bring your car keys with you,” according to a tweet from the city of Allen. 

Authorities allowed some shoppers to pick up their vehicles on Sunday evening, with a window from 5:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time, according to a news release from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Christian LaCour was a well-liked security guard at the outlets.

The 20-year-old was “the kind of person who would just walk into the store and everyone in the room would light up because he was there,” said Max Weiss, a mall store employee.

“Every time he was in the store, it felt safer,” Weiss added. “He brought laughter and joy and always knew what to say.”

Texas has loosened restrictions on gun ownership in recent years amid several high-profile mass shootings that have devastated its communities.

Recent shootings include the massacre in Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school last May.

In 2021, legislation went into effect allowing most Texans who legally own a firearm to carry it openly in public without obtaining a permit or training.

A 2022 study found that states with weaker gun laws have higher rates of gun deaths, including homicides and suicides.

A gunman opened fire at an outlet mall in the Dallas suburb of Allen, Texas, Saturday — the latest mass shooting to shatter an American community.

Here’s what we know so far:

The gunman in Saturday’s mass shooting in Allen, Texas, has been identified as Mauricio Garcia, 33, a source tells CNN.

Though authorities in Allen have yet to publicly announce a motive for the gunman – identified by law enforcement as Garcia – investigators are considering whether he may have been driven by right-wing extremism, a senior law enforcement source familiar with the investigation tells CNN.

Garcia killed on the scene by an Allen police officer who was on a call nearby when the shooting started, was wearing an insignia that authorities believe may be associated with extremist groups, the source said.

Investigators have unearthed an extensive social media presence, including neo-Nazi and White supremacist-related posts and images that authorities believe Garcia shared online, according to the source.

Garcia opened fire Saturday afternoon at Allen Premium Outlets, where employees, shoppers and families with small children scrambled to take cover as he moved through the mall complex, authorities said.

In addition to the AR-15 style weapon found near him, Garcia had at least one other weapon on him when he was fatally shot in front of the mall, the source tells CNN. Police also found multiple weapons in his car.

CNN talked with neighbors who witnessed FBI and police at a home with an address matching that of Garcia’s parents Saturday night. Authorities arrived there about an hour after the shooting and blocked off the street for several hours, neighbors told CNN’s Ed Lavandera

Garcia had been living in some form of temporary housing, according to the senior law enforcement source. The Dallas Morning News reports the suspect had been staying in an extended-stay hotel in Dallas.