Several disturbing items have been found in the motel room where the Texas gunman had been staying at the time of the outlet mall rampage that left eight people dead on Saturday.
A search warrant affidavit obtained by the local outlet WFAA shows that pictures and at least seven separate handwritten notes were found, though it is not yet clear if they shed any light on a motive for the massacre.
The suspected gunman, Mauricio Garcia, was shot dead by police on Saturday after indiscriminately firing an AR-15 style weapon at shoppers at Allen Premium Outlets. Federal investigators are said to be focusing on extremism as a factor in the mass shooting, with neo-Nazi and white supremacist content shared on a social media account that has been linked to the 33-year-old former security guard.
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In addition to handwritten notes and pictures found in Garcia’s motel room, investigators also found several micro SD cards, three boxes of ammunition, handcuffs, and a black hat emblazoned with the phrase “Killin It,” according to WFAA. Another hat that read “Security” was found, along with a tactical vest, a knife in a holster, and “various notebooks.”
After graduating from a Dallas high school in 2008, Garcia went on to join the Army—but washed out after three months due to mental health concerns. It remains unclear why he targeted shoppers at Allen Premium Outlets, and police have yet to reveal a definitive motive.
But a bulletin sent to various law enforcement agencies by the FBI warned that Garcia’s social media activity “revealed hundreds of postings and images to include writings with racially and ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, including neo-nazi material and material espousing the supremacy of the white race.”
