Man in ‘Right Wing Death Squad’ Patch Kills 8 at Texas Mall

A man wearing a “right-wing death squad” patch opened fire on Texas shoppers, killing eight, over the weekend. 

An outlet mall in Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb, was the latest site of a deadly American mass shooting as Mauricio Garcia, 33, used a high-powered rifle to systematically shoot shoppers on Saturday afternoon. 

The shooter was fatally shot by a police officer who  happened to be on the scene for an unrelated call. Not all the victims have been named but they include Christian LaCour,  a young security guard, and 27-year-old Aishwarya Thatikonda. Reports from the scene indicate that at least one of the dead was a child. Nine more were injured in the shooting.

The shooter used an AR-15-style rifle and CNN reported he received firearms training as part of his work as a security guard. 

Texas has repeatedly loosened its gun laws under Governor Greg Abbott, who called the latest mass killing in his state “devastating.” U.S. President Joe Biden once again called for Congress to pass stricter gun laws, which is highly unlikely considering Republican opposition.

Saturday’s mass shooting is believed to be the 199th in the U.S. alone in 2023, according to Gun Violence Archive.

The shooter wore a tactical vest stuffed with loaded magazines. On the vest was a patch that read “RWDS,” which stands for “right-wing death squad,” a popular term in the extreme-right community. The term is popular among the Proud Boys and other far-right groups.

Police have not yet released a motive in the shooting. Multiple outlets have reported that authorities are analyzing if the shooter held neo-Nazi beliefs. The shooter seemingly had an extensive social media presence where he interacted with extreme right and neo-Nazi content.

Steven Spainhouer’s son worked in the mall so when Spainhouer, a former cop, heard of the shooting he went to help. Speaking to a local CBS affiliate he described being the first responder in a bloody and horrific scene. While on scene he found a young boy underneath the body of his mother who had died protecting him as well as the bodies of other victims. 

“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,” Spainhouer said. 

Distressing video from the scene shows scores of panicked shoppers running from the gunfire and urging people to take shelter or run for help. Gory videos of the remains of the victims flooded social media, primarily Twitter, shortly after the shooting took place. 

The situation has sparked a call for gun control as it’s just the latest in a long line of recent mass shootings in the United States. It comes only 10 days removed from Texas’ last mass shooting where a man armed, yet again, with an AR-15-style rifle shot and killed five of his neighbours including a nine-year-old boy. The suspect, Francisco Oropesa, was arrested after a multiple day manhunt and is being held in custody. He allegedly carried out the murders after being asked to stop shooting his rifles in the backyard because the neighbours infant was trying to sleep.