White supremacy a common thread between two mass shooters with ties to Allen, Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas — Mauricio Garcia, the 33-year-old gunman who killed eight people and injured seven when he opened fire with an AR-15 in a parking lot at an Allen mall, isn’t the only Texas mass shooter with ties to the Dallas suburb.

Patrick Crusius committed a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso on Aug. 3, 2019, killing 23 people and injuring 25 more.

Crusius drove 10 hours from the Dallas area to El Paso. He was a resident of Allen.

Garcia and Crusius displayed personal views of white supremacy before the shootings.

Garcia posted neo-Nazi content on a Russian social media site and other profiles, law enforcement officials believe.

Crusius published a manifesto online shortly before entering the Walmart and opening fire, stating in the post that immigration is “detrimental to the future of America.”

Garcia’s profile on Odnoklassniki — a social media network that’s popular in Russia — includes a date of birth that matches his and, according to media reports, features posts like one about the motel he was staying in before this month’s shooting.

The profile picture on the account is one of a smiling emoji styled to look like Hitler. An account must be created to view posts and other information on the profile, which The Fort Worth Star-Telegram was unable to do.

On other social media platforms, including Twitter, Garcia posted hate-filled content about women, Jews and Black people. He also shared pictures of his tattoos, showing a swastika on his chest and a Nazi SS on his upper right arm.

Garcia was Latino. He made a post with a cartoon image depicting a Latino child at a fork in a road, with one direction labeled “act black” and the other stating “act like a white supremacist.” He wrote in the post, “I think I’ll take my chances with the white supremacist.”

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