(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – The perpetrator of the recent mass shooting in Texas – Mauricio Garcia, who killed eight people and wounded seven at a shopping mall – was discharged from the US Army because of “physical or mental conditions,” a report reveals.
On Saturday, 33-year-old Garcia shot at random people at the Allen Premium Outlets, an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb.
He managed to shoot 15 people with an AR-15 rifle before he was gunned down by a policeman on duty on an unrelated assignment.
Six of his victims died on the spot, while nine were hospitalized. Two of those have died of their wounds.
In 2008, Garcia tried to enter the US Army but got “terminated” after only three months before he exited entry training, according to a CNN report. The US Defense Department confirmed the information.
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation into the mass shooting said Garcia was expelled from the US Army “for mental health reasons.”
“He was separated under the 2005 edition of Army Regulation 635-200, paragraph 5–17, Other designated physical or mental conditions,” an Army official told The Daily Caller.
Army officials have also verified the reports that Garcia tried to join the service in 2008 but failed to make it beyond the basic entrance period. They suggested he was terminated due to “mental deficiencies.”
“Mauricio Garcia entered the regular Army in June 2008; he was terminated three months later without completing initial entry training. He was not awarded a military occupational specialty [or assigned occupation],” said Heather Hagan, a spokesperson for the US Army.
“He had no deployments or awards,” she added but refused to reveal whether Garcia got discharged under honorable circumstances or had a dishonorable discharge.
According to the police reports and video footage, Garcia, who was wearing black tactical gear, began shooting in the parking lot of the Allen outlet mall as soon as he got out of his car.
An ABC News report revealed that the 33-year-old man had taken several firearm proficiency courses – in 2015 and 2018 – as part of his work as a security guard.
Investigators are looking into whether Garcia had “neo-Nazi” views due to content on his social media profiles and a patch on his chest featuring the acronym “RWDS,” decoded as standing for “Right Wing Death Squad.”
According to NBC News, the gunman surveilled the Allen Premium Outlets for weeks, sharing over 20 photos of the venue on “extremist forums” during that period.
The report hypothesized he was trying to determine the busiest time at the mall to “unleash the greatest carnage.”
It is also noted that one of Garcia’s social media posts possibly lamented his “declining mental health,” as he wrote that “no psychologist would be able to fix” him, and he was worried about what his family would say about him.
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