Authorities: Texas mall gunman had ''neo-Nazi ideation''

The gunman who killed eight people and wounded seven others at a suburban Dallas shopping mall had no prior criminal record but had neo-Nazi ideation, authorities said on Tuesday.Investigators are still trying to determine why Mauricio Garcia opened fire on Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets, Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference.Garcia, 33, researched when the mall in Allen was busiest Saturday afternoons and posted photos on social media in mid-April of a store near where he ultimately started his attack, which ended with police killing him.

The gunman who killed eight people and wounded seven others at a suburban Dallas shopping mall had no prior criminal record but had “neo-Nazi ideation”, authorities said on Tuesday.

Investigators are still trying to determine why Mauricio Garcia opened fire on Saturday at the Allen Premium Outlets, Hank Sibley, the regional director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said at a news conference.

Garcia, 33, researched when the mall in Allen was busiest — Saturday afternoons — and posted photos on social media in mid-April of a store near where he ultimately started his attack, which ended with police killing him. Among the dead were two elementary school-age sisters, a couple and their 3-year-old son, and a security guard.

An Associated Press review of his online activity shows he also betrayed a fascination with white supremacy and mass shootings, which he described as sport. Photos Garcia posted showed large Nazi tattoos on his arm and torso, including a swastika and the SS lightning bolt logo of Hitler's paramilitary forces.

The online statements have contributed to an emerging picture of Garcia. He was discharged from the Army in 2008 because of mental health issues and apparently had been working as a security guard, according to neighbours and an Army official.