Texas mall gunman Mauricio Garcia appeared to be casing his target for weeks, attacking when it was busiest — after railing online against Jews, women and minorities while noting his own mental-health slide.
Garcia, 33, shared more than two dozen photos of the Allen Premium Outlets on extremist forums in the weeks leading up to his mass shooting, seemingly determining what would be the most packed time at the mall to unleash the greatest carnage, NBC reported.
The deadly shooting, which killed eight people, took place around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, typically when the shopping center is most crowded, according to the Google’s analytics that Garcia posted.
In addition to the disturbing snaps, Garcia shared several posts targeting Jewish people, women and racial minorities on the Russian social-networking platform OK.RU and 4chan.
He posted a video of himself on the day of the massacre removing a Scream mask and asking viewers, “Not quite what you were expecting, huh?” NBC said. It is unclear when the video was taken or what Garcia meant.
The mass shooter alluded to his declining mental health, too.
One of his final posts lamented that no psychologist would be able to fix him and his fears of what his family might say about him.
He said he once admitted his thoughts about his mental health to a commanding military officer.
Garcia, a security guard, had joined the Army in June 2008 but was quickly booted because of issues including mental-health concerns, an Army rep said Monday.
Garcia was terminated after three months because of a red-flag mental-health evaluation, law-enforcement sources told ABC 30, saying the decision was specifically made “due to mental health concerns.” It was not immediately clear what those concerns entailed.
Investigators also have been probing Garcia’s alleged neo-Nazi views, after police found a patch on his chest with the acronym “RWDS,” which stands for “Right Wing Death Squad” — a popular phrase among white supremacy groups, according to a law-enforcement official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Garcia had posted an image of a flak vest with the patch before the shooting. Other posts by him included a series of shirtless pictures with white-power tattoos.
An internal email being disseminated within Texas law enforcement has revealed that police believe the shooter was an “incel,” or “involuntary celibate,” too.
“Incel” refers to a person, typically young men, who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner and express hostility to people who can.
Many of Garcia’s posts were misogynistic and celebrating “incel” culture. Some posts involved ”incel” mass murderer Elliot Rodger, who killed six people and injured 14 before killing himself in Isla Vista, Calif., in 2014.
Investigators have yet to release a motive on Saturday’s shooting or why Garcia chose to specifically target the Allen shopping mall, located about 25 miles north of Dallas, where his parents live.