The shooter in Allen Texas who killed at least eight people on Saturday was identified as Mauricio Garcia, 33, a Dallas resident.
Garcia frequently posted pro-white supremacist and neo-Nazi materials on social media, according to an FBI bulletin, and his fascination with the beliefs are now being investigated as a motive for the attack.
The FBI document also says the alleged shooter was discharged from the military in 2008 amid “mental health concerns.”
The FBI’s “review and triage of the subject’s social media accounts revealed hundreds of postings and images to include writings with racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist rhetoric, including neo-Nazi materials and material espousing the supremacy of the white race,” the bulletin reads.
Garcia had no criminal history but is believed to have been associated with a local neo-Nazi group. He previously reported a lost firearm to authorities, which police believe allowed him to then modify that same firearm in an attempt to make it harder to trace
Investigators believe the shooter was a neo-Nazi and an “incel,” according to an internal email circulated by Texas law enforcement.
The suspect is a U.S. citizen who has never applied for a passport, the law enforcement documents also noted.
Garcia was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun, 10 rifle magazines and six pistol magazines on his body. More handguns and rifles were found in his car.
A patch on Garcia’s chest said “RWDS,” an acronym that stands for Right Wing Death Squad, according to people familiar with the investigation. The phrase is popular among right-wing extremists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, they said, and while there is still a great deal of evidence to analyze, and authorities have not reached any conclusions yet, investigators are approaching the shooting as a possible hate crime.