Texas shopping centre shooter recorded bizarre message on voicemail: report
The Dallas shopping centre shooter left a twisted message recorded onto his voicemail answering service that could offer a motive for the horrific mass killing. Warning: Graphic
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The Texas mall mass shooter reportedly recorded a bizarre message on his mobile phone’s voicemail informing his provider that he had paid his bill, asking his parents for cash and telling female callers he has “plenty of money.”
Mauricio Garcia, 33, who killed eight people and wounded seven others with an AR-15-style assault rifle at the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen near Dallas, Texas on Saturday, local time, appeared to obsess about money in the message, according to records obtained by Fox News Digital.
“Hi, this is Mauricio. If you’re the phone company I sent you the money, or if you’re my parents please send money,” he says.
“If you are my financial aid institution you didn’t lend me enough money, if you are a friend you owe me money. And if you are a female, don’t worry, I have plenty of money,” the suspected neo-Nazi sympathiser adds in the recording, the New York Post reports.
There have been more than 200 mass shootings in the United States since the beginning of this year.
The phone number for Garcia goes straight to the bizarre message. It was unclear when he made the recording.
Meanwhile, it also has emerged that Garcia was kicked out of the US Army in 2008 “due to mental-health concerns,” law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
Several law enforcement sources told the outlet that investigators are exploring whether the shooter’s attack was an act of domestic terrorism.
Federal authorities probing whether Garcia, whose social media accounts espoused white supremacist views, held neo-Nazi views.
The gunman wore a patch with the acronym “RWDS,” which stands for “Right Wing Death Squad” – a popular phrase among white-supremacy groups, a law enforcement source told The Associated Press.
Garcia, who had no criminal history, reportedly shared a home with his parents and had booked an extended stay at a nearby motel.
GOOD SAMARITAN SHOPPER RECALLS CARNAGE AND HORROR
A frantic dad who rushed to the scene of the Saturday mass shooting at a Texas shopping centre that left nine people dead, including the unidentified gunman, and injured seven recounted the horrors of losing three victims he had tried to save.
He also described finding a blood-soaked child who survived the massacre by hiding underneath the body of his slain mother.
Steven Spainhouer raced to the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, 40 kilometres north of Dallas, around 3:30pm (6:30am. AEST) after his son, who worked at H&M, called to say multiple shots had been fired in a terrifying onslaught that would eventually claim the lives of eight people.
The New York Post reported Mr Spainhouer arrived before any first responders and quickly began to administer first aid, while bystanders took videos of the bloodied victims sprawled on the ground.
“I never imagined in 100 years I would be thrust into the position of being the first responder on the site to take care of people,” Mr Spainhour reportedly said.
“The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face.”
Mr Spainhouer then discovered a child who survived the massacre by hiding under his mother, who had died.
“When I rolled the mother over, he came out. I asked him if he was OK and he said, ‘My mum is hurt, my mum is hurt,’” Mr Spainhouer recalled. “So rather than traumatise him anymore, I pulled him around the corner sat him down. He was covered from head to toe … like somebody poured blood on him.”
When asked if he thought his lifesaving efforts made any difference Mr Spainhouer said he wasn’t sure, since three people he had tried to help died.
The images of the bloodied victims are something Mr Spainhouer says will stay with him for the rest of his life.
“No one can see what they saw today and not be affected by it. It’s not a situation I would wish upon anybody, it’s just unfathomable to see carnage.”
Eight people were killed and at least seven others were injured by a gunman dressed in black tactical gear who began firing in the mall’s parking lot. The gunman was shot dead by a police officer at the scene.
An officer who was at the mall responding to an unrelated call heard the shots, ran toward the sound, and “engaged and neutralised the threat,” Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey told reporters at a press briefing on Saturday, local time.
Six victims of the shooter were found dead at the scene, while nine others were transported to area hospitals for treatment, two of which later died from their wounds, Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said.
Police did not give the ages of the victims but witnesses said children were among the casualties — and that they saw what looked like a shopping centre security guard wounded on the ground.
Chilling footage of the moment the gunman casually got out of his car and opened fire on shoppers was caught on dashcam video.
The man, who is in his 30s, lived with his parents in Dallas, according to WFAA-TV. Police believe he acted alone.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott called the mass shooting an “unspeakable tragedy.”
A father who arrived at the mall after his daughter, who was inside, phoned to tell him about the shooting, also told CNN that police had informed him there may have been a second shooter.
“We saw the police outside the door, and they told us we had to go, and that they are still looking for the person,” Jaynal Pervez said, according to CNN.
“There’s no more safe places. I don’t know what to do.”
Footage from local media showed blood on sidewalks outside the complex and white sheets covering what appears to be bodies.
Allen Premium Outlets is an outdoor mall with more than 120 outlet stores, according to its site.
Other video circulating on social media showed people running through a carparking lot in front of the shopping centre with the sound of gunfire in the background.
“Law enforcement is on the scene at Allen Premium Outlets. An active investigation is underway. Please avoid the area until further update,” the Allen Police Department said in a Twitter post shortly after police arrived at the scene.
HOW HERO COP TOOK DOWN MASS SHOOTER
The police officer who took down the Allen, Texas mall gunman made a panicked call for backup — pleading for “everybody” — moments before he encountered the suspect and shot him dead.
As he rushed to the H&M store at the Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday, the hero cop tried his best to relay the chaos outside the mall where a man in his 30s opened fire, killing eight people and injuring seven others, including children, audio of the call to the Allen Police Department reveals.
With dozens of gunshots ringing out, the officer urged his fellow police officers to get to the scene as fast as they could to help him take down the gunman, who was armed with an AR-15-style rifle.
“I’ve got people running. There’s still shooting,” the officer said during the call. “I need everybody I got.”
About two minutes after urging for backup to arrive, the officer was successfully able to take down the shooter, telling his colleagues: “I got him down,” according to the audio obtained by the Daily Mail.
The officer, who has not been publicly identified, was initially at the mall for an unrelated call, Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey told reporters.
“He heard gunshots, went to the gunshots, engaged the suspect, and neutralised the suspect,” Harvey said.
POLICE SEARCH SHOOTER’S HOME WHERE HE LIVED WITH PARENTS
Police and FBI agents early on Sunday, local time, searched the home of the suspected Texas mall shooter — who was in his 30s and lived with his parents, according to a report.
Hours after a gunman killed eight people and wounded seven others before he was shot and killed by police, authorities descended on a residence in Dallas, where multiple sources told local news affiliate WFAA the suspect stayed with his parents.
Multiple FBI agents and officers from the Dallas Police Department were inside the home on Saturday night talking with the family, who have requested a translator.
Neighbours told WFAA that the man was in his 30s and had lived there for as long as they could remember.
They said he was very quiet, often wore some kind of security uniform, although he had never been seen with a weapon.
His gray Dodge Charger was always parked in front of the house, neighbours said, although he and the car had notably been absent in recent weeks.
Neighbours did not recall any police activity or problems at the residence.
Graphic video circulating on social media shows the body of a man who has been shot through his eye, who is purported to be the slain shooter.
The man is seen in heavy military tactical gear in a pool of his own blood around his head on the footpath outside of a burger location in the mall.
He appeared to have a tattoo on his left hand, the video shows, which some say is the logo of the city of Dallas.
Behind the man, who is dressed in all black, an assault rifle can be seen lying on the ground, the video shows.
Investigators believe that the gunman acted alone.
His motive remains unknown at this time.
This mass shooting comes barely a week after five people including children were killed in Cleveland, Texas after a neighbour asked a man to stop shooting his rifle outside because a baby was trying to sleep.
With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country – 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before. There have been more than 195 mass shootings – defined as four or more people wounded or killed – so far this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
– With New York Post.
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