33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, the man accused of shooting and killing eight people at a Texas mall on Saturday, shared extremist beliefs in social media posts, NBC News reported on Monday.
According to the report, a social media page appearing to belong to Garcia included posts with rants against Jews, women and racial minorities, as well as posts about struggling with mental health.
Garcia reportedly maintained a profile on the Russian social networking platform OK.RU, including posts referencing extremist online forums, such as 4chan, and content from white nationalists, including antisemitic white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who made headlines several months ago when he met former US President Donald Trump at his estate in Florida.
In the weeks before the attack, the shooter posted more than two dozen photos of the Allen Premium Outlets mall, where he was killed by an officer after the mass shooting Saturday, and surrounding areas, including several screenshots of Google location information, seemingly monitoring the mall at its busiest times, according to NBC News.
Many of his posts referenced his mental health. In his final post, he lamented what his family might say and wrote that no psychologist would have been able to fix him, the report said.
In another post, he made disturbing comments about what makes a mass shooting “important” and praised a person who opened fire at a private Christian school in Nashville earlier this year, killing six people, including three children.
The shooter also posted a series of links to other sites, including a YouTube account that featured a video published the day of the shooting. In it he removes a “Scream” mask and says, “Not quite what you were expecting, huh?”
He also posted photos of a flak vest emblazoned with patches, including one with the acronym for “Right Wing Death Squad,” a popular meme among far-right extremist groups. Another post included a series of shirtless pictures with visible white power tattoos, including SS Lightning Bolts and a swastika.
On Sunday, authorities said the shooter was armed with multiple weapons, including an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun, when he fired at the crowded outdoor mall in Allen, about 30 miles north of Dallas.
Agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were tracing at least four weapons found at the scene, a law enforcement source said, including weapons located in his vehicle.
Electronic receipts posted on the shooter’s social media account appear to show he spent more than $3,200 on three types of firearms bought in June through a Dallas gun distributor.
Authorities have not yet publicly revealed a motive for the mass shooting, but a senior law enforcement source said the gunman’s social media site is part of the investigation.
Garcia has no criminal record that authorities were immediately aware of, according to NBC News.
The shooter joined the Army in June 2008 but was kicked out after three months for a physical or mental condition. He did not complete basic training, nor was he ever deployed or received any awards, said Heather Hagan, a US Army Public Affairs spokeswoman.