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In the days since the Allen mall shooting, law enforcement has released little information about the gunman, his weapons or his motives. Most of the details are coming from leaks, which critics say has created an information vacuum for confusion and misinformation to spread.
On Monday, local lawmakers acknowledged the lack of public information in speeches from the House and Senate floor. Attorney General Ken Paxton said law enforcement is moving carefully after information released in the immediate aftermath of the 2022 Uvalde school shooting turned out to be wrong.
“I would ask that you pray for patience as people deal with the ongoing release of information,” Angela Paxton, the attorney general’s wife and a state senator representing Collin County, said of the unanswered questions.
On Monday evening, the Texas Department of Public Safety said officials will hold a press briefing on Tuesday.
The most detailed information about the Allen shooting to date has appeared in media reports attributed to unnamed law enforcement officials or to federal documents that have not been publicly released. Without a single state official as the public face of the investigation, some conservative social media influencers are casting doubt on the legitimacy of some of the information circulating in the public sphere — especially reports that the gunman espoused white supremacist beliefs.
Law enforcement officials say 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets on Saturday afternoon, killing eight people and wounding at least seven more. After local officials hosted two press conferences in the immediate aftermath, authorities have not briefed the public since.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which took over the investigation from local police, confirmed the gunman’s name, age and city of residence on Sunday. Late Monday, the state agency released a list of the victims, who ranged in age from 3 to 37. Authorities have not confirmed a possible motive or the weapons used.
At a press conference in Austin on Monday focused on border security, Gov. Greg Abbott told reporters he understands the community wants to know what happened and why.
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“Investigators were unable to provide specifics at that time,” Abbott said. “I believe in the coming days, the public will be much better informed about why and how this happened. And that will inform us as Texas leaders about next steps to take to try to prevent crimes like this taking place in the future.”
The Department of Public Safety did not respond to a request for comment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which are conducting the investigation jointly with DPS, have also not hosted press conferences.
On Monday, Attorney General Ken Paxton told conservative talk show host Glenn Beck law enforcement did not want to release unconfirmed details. Paxton said he was in a briefing on Sunday with state and federal agents.
“They’re not comfortable releasing information right now because they still feel like they don’t know enough,” Paxton told Beck in an interview.
“I think what happened in Uvalde — where information got out that wasn’t accurate that was fed by law enforcement — I think they’re being very careful these days about not saying anything until they absolutely know that it’s true,” he said.
Law enforcement officials made several misstatements in the days after the Uvalde shooting by giving information that turned out to be inaccurate regarding officers’ initial response and ease of access to the building. They later corrected those mistakes, sometimes after they were revealed by the media.
Citing unnamed enforcement officials, multiple national news outlets reported this weekend that the Allen shooter may have held white supremacist beliefs. Rolling Stone referenced an internal FBI bulletin in its reporting.
Paxton told Beck the details did not come up in his briefing: “I’m not saying it’s not true. But nobody in the briefing brought up any detail.”
Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who has been a leader in promoting gun restrictions this session and a vocal critic of DPS’ response in Uvalde, said the lack of information is standard operating procedure from Abbott’s administration.
“Yet again another tragedy that happened over the weekend and yet again we know very little about it because DPS has not told us anything about it,” Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, said at a press conference with Uvalde families Monday. “Ever since Uvalde, we’ve seen mass shootings across this nation and cops come out and they tell you who died. They tell you who the shooter was. They tell you what the motivation was. And they do it all within 24 hours.”