DALLAS (AP) — The man accused of killing eight people and wounding several others in a mass shooting at a suburban Dallas shopping mall researched when it was busiest and posted photos on social media in mid-April of a store near where he ultimately started his attack.
The posts by Mauricio Garcia on a Russian social networking site suggest the 33-year-old had been planning the attack for weeks before he stepped out of a silver sedan and opened fire Saturday. Among the dead were two elementary school-age sisters, a couple and their 3-year-old son, and a security guard.
Garcia’s online activity also betrayed a fascination with white supremacy and mass shootings, which he described as sport. Photos he posted showed large Nazi tattoos on his arm and torso, including a swastika and the SS lightning bolt logo of Hitler’s paramilitary forces.
Other posts indicated Garcia had researched when the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen, one of the Dallas-area’s most diverse suburbs, would be the busiest — Saturday afternoons, the time he carried out the massacre, which ended when police shot and killed him.
The online activity contributed to an emerging picture of the gunman Monday. He was discharged from the Army in 2008 because of mental health issues and apparently had been working as a security guard, according to neighbors and an Army official.
Aric Toler, director of training and research at the international research collective bellingcat.com, said he identified Garcia’s profile on the site OK.RU by searching for active accounts with his birthdate located in the U.S. The AP independently verified the account, which also featured an image of a traffic ticket with Garcia’s name and birthdate as well as paperwork from a motel where he stayed before the shooting.
Federal agents investigating what motivated the shooting have also reviewed the online posts, according…
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