Allen Mall Shooter Shared Anti-Jew, Anti-Women Extremist Views on Social Media

By Brandy Zadrozny, Courtney Kube, Ken Dilanian and Erik Ortiz - NBC News

A social media profile believed to belong to the gunman who shot and killed eight people Saturday at a shopping mall in Allen, near Dallas, Texas, shared extremist ideas and since September has published diatribes against Jews, women and racial minorities.

Mauricio Garcia, 33, had a profile on OK.RU, a Russian social media platform that features posts referencing extremist online forums such as 4chan and white supremacist content, including Nick Fuentes, a media commentator known for his anti-Semitic views.

In the weeks leading up to the attack, that profile posted more than two dozen photos of the Allen Premium Outlets mall, where the mass shooting took place Saturday afternoon, and surrounding areas, including several screenshots of Google location information, which apparently monitored the mall during its peak hours.

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Many of the messages referred to his mental health. In his last message, he lamented what his family might say and said that no psychologist had been able to cure him. He also wrote that he had expressed similar thoughts to his commanding officer.

He also posted a number of links to other sites, including one from a YouTube account with a video posted on the day of the shooting. In the video, he removed a mask from the movie Scream and said, "Not exactly what you expected, huh?"

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He also posted photos of a bulletproof vest adorned with patches, including one with the acronym "Right Wing Death Squad." Another post included a series of shirtless photos with visible tattoos of white power, including SS symbols and a Nazi swastika.

According to authorities, Garcia had multiple weapons, including an AR-15 rifle and a handgun, when he opened fire at a crowded outdoor mall in the Dallas suburb of Allen.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the mass shooting, but a law enforcement source told NBC News that Garcia's social media profile is part of the investigation.

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Authorities stressed that the investigation is ongoing, and that the preliminary review found that the killer's social media posts were not liked or shared by others.

An officer said authorities believe the shooter acted alone, but investigators are still interviewing family and friends.

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Garcia enlisted in the Army in June 2008, but was expelled after three months because of a physical or mental problem. He did not complete basic training, was deployed or received any decorations, said Heather Hagan, a spokeswoman for Army Public Affairs, who declined to explain the reasons for his military discharge.

A home in a leafy Dallas neighborhood linked to the gunman and his family was searched by authorities. People could be seen entering and leaving the residence, but those who approached the door Monday declined to comment.

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The shooting came just a week after a man fatally shot five people in Cleveland, Texas, north of Houston, after neighbors asked him to stop firing his gun because a sleeping baby.

There have been seven mass shootings in Texas since the massacre at Uvalde Elementary School a year ago that killed 21 people, according to an Associated Press and USA Today database in collaboration with Northeastern University.

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There has been an average of about one mass murder per week this year, The Associated Press reported.

Texas Senate Democrats on Monday called on the GOP-controlled Legislature to pass new gun control laws, including age restrictions and closing loopholes at gun shows.

Allen, a city located about 40 miles north of downtown Dallas and with a population of about 105,000, is one of the most diverse suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

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The community is also linked to another of Texas' recent mass shootings. Patrick Crusius lived there in 2019 before he made a racist post online warning of an alleged "Hispanic invasion" and drove to El Paso, where he opened fire at a Walmart killing 23 people. Crusius, 24, pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes in February.