In May, Mauricio Garcia shot and killed eight people at the Allen Premium Outlet Mall in Allen, Texas. The ages of the victims ranged from 37 to just 3 years old. There were videos of the shooting that circulated on social media that were just too graphic to post or even link to; the footage was ghastly. Garcia was later killed by a police officer who was already at the mall for a different reason.
What led the officer to have a discussion with the woman at the start of the video and her two children wasn’t recorded. Still, the incident doesn’t appear to be a serious legal incident, ending with him reminding everyone to wear seat belts. He appears ready to return to his vehicle and leave before shots are heard in the distance. What ended as a friendly reminder about basic traffic safety quickly became a manhunt for a mass shooter at the mall. The woman can be seen ushering her kids to safety. At the same time, the officer reports gunfire at his location and grabs his AR-15 rifle, following the gunshots around the outlet mall in search of the shooter.
He calls for backup, finally coming upon Garcia, where he fires several rounds at him at a distance killing him and ending the man’s rampage. He warns officers about crossfire, alerting them that he’s approaching the suspect. Another officer arriving on the scene is heard declaring Garcia dead.
“He’s dead,” said the second officer.
“Got him, bro,” replied the primary officer before tossing out an expletive.
The video is a little over five minutes long. This officer is a hero. Period.