Three children among eight killed in Texas mall shooting – as one boy left orphaned
Three children are among the eight people killed in Saturday’s shooting at a Texas shopping centre – with one child orphaned after his parents and brother died.
Mauricio Garcia opened fire at Allen Premium Outlets, 25 miles (40 km) north of downtown Dallas, sending shoppers running for their lives.
Kyu Song Cho, 37, and Cindy Cho, 35, died in the carnage, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
A GoFundMe page and local media said their three-year-old son, James, was also killed and that their other child, six-year-old William, survived and is now an orphan.
Sky’s US partner NBC News said two young sisters also died and that their mother was in a critical condition.
Daniela Mendoza, 11, and eight-year-old Sofia Mendoza were named in a letter from their school in Sachse, Texas, which called the girls “rays of sunshine”.
Security guard Christian LaCour, 23, and Aishwarya Thatikonda, a 26-year-old engineer from India, also died, said the public safety department.
Mr LaCour’s grandmother described him as “such a beautiful soul”, according to a post on Facebook.
“He was such a beautiful soul, 20 years old with goals for his future. I was so proud of him and so glad I got to see him two weeks ago,” said Sandra Montgomery.
Officials said the eighth person killed was Elio Cumana-Rivas, 32, from Dallas.
Aishwarya Thatikonda (left) and Christian LaCour died in the shooting
Garcia, 33, was captured on video getting out of a vehicle in the car park wearing tactical gear and immediately opening fire with an AR-15 style assault rifle.
Shoppers ran for cover and some hid in shops which locked their doors to keep the gunman out.
Wetzel’s Pretzels worker Maxwell Gum said a panicked family ran in as gunfire sounded in the background.
He took them into a delivery corridor, hoping it would be a safe place to hide, but found chaos.
“There were probably like 300 people pouring in from all the different doors,” the teenager said, adding that people were “freaking out”.
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Worker helps people flee Texas shooting
Authorities are looking at social media accounts that suggest Garcia was a neo-Nazi sympathiser with an interest in white supremacy ideology.
He had a patch reading ‘RWDS’ on his chest when police shot him dead, an acronym that means Right Wing Death Squad.
A handgun was one of several firearms he had on him. Police said the officer that ended the massacre was in the area on an unrelated call.
It’s also emerged the killer was kicked out of the army after just three months in 2008. An army official, speaking anonymously, said it was due to mental health issues.
Garcia’s neighbours in Dallas said they believed he worked as a security guard but weren’t sure exactly where.
People pray at a makeshift memorial a the scene of the shooting. Pic: AP
Seven people were also wounded in the attack.
Medical City Healthcare said on Monday that six of them were being treated at three of its hospitals.
Three were critical, two were in fair condition and one was in good condition at a children’s hospital. A seventh injured person was taken to a different hospital, police said.
The shooting comes just over a week after a man shot five people dead in Cleveland, Texas, after he was asked to stop firing his gun outside because a baby was asleep.
Twenty one people, including 19 children, also died last May in Texas when a gunman entered Robb Eementary School.
Shoppers left the scene with their hands raised
The killings in Allen were the latest in at least 199 mass shootings in the US so far in 2023, according to non-profit group Gun Violence Archive.
Protesters called for stricter gun laws at the Texas Capitol on Monday and two Republicans backed a Democrat proposal to raise the age of buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21.
However, the bill has virtually no chance of becoming law in a state where millions support liberal weapons laws.
President Biden has renewed calls for Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as to enact universal background checks and end immunity for gun manufacturers.
I knew Donald Trump when he was nothing.
Nothing like he is today, to be precise.
It was the 18 April 2006, and he had landed by helicopter at St Andrew’s, on his way to survey a stretch of Aberdeenshire coastline he was going to turn into a golf course.
He duly delivered and “Trump International” is a stunning addition to Scotland’s golfing real estate, alongside his other course at Turnberry.
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What do Scots think of Trump visit?
Back in 2006, Trump was big time and big news.
He was the brand built on property and showbiz and, upon arrival, the star of TV’s The Apprentice breezed his way through our interview, obliging us by pointing down the barrel of the camera and delivering his trademark “you’re fired”.
We talked investment, Scottish roots and some local objections to the golf course.
I said it was all a bit like the film Local Hero, which likened him to the rich guy played by Burt Lancaster and he seemed happy enough.
Innocent times.
In 2006, the host of The Apprentice delivering his trademark ‘you’re fired’ finger point while visiting Aberdeenshire. File pic: PA
Donald Trump promoting his plans for a golf course on the Menie Estate near Aberdeen in 2010
Fast forward 20 years to President Trump and we are braced for his latest return ‘home’. For this son of Scotland (his mother is from the Isle of Lewis), it’s a homecoming from hell. Hellish on security logistics, at least.
You might think a trip to the old country would carry an element of triumph, wrapped in a nation’s pride. He’s the prodigal who made president, after all – think Biden, Ireland, and the rock star welcome rolled out there for one of their own.
Not so for President Trump. The dynamic’s different with the Donald – the heartland he’ll visit isn’t loved up, it’s locked down. Same as it ever was, whenever he lands in Scotland.
The US president at his Turnberry course in 2023 amid tight security. PA file pic
File pic: PA
Hundreds of extra police officers have been drafted from around the country to hermetically seal his golf courses in Turnberry and Aberdeenshire. A private trip in two very public settings demands a huge security operation, complicated by an army of protestors mobilising for what they’re calling a “carnival of resistance”.
Demonstrations are planned over a range of causes – organisers cite “threats” to democracy, climate, the global economy and more.
Protestors in 2023 gather at Trump’s Turnberry resort during his visit. File pic: PA
Demonstrations, like this one in 2018, near Turnberry require policing. File pic: AP
Comic Simon Brodkin, appearing in character as Lee Nelson, is led away by security during an anti-Trump protest at Turnberry in 2016. File pic: Reuters
There is no cause untouched by a president of the US and none forgotten by this weekend’s protests.
Scotland leans left of Donald Trump, and critics will lean into an effort to let him know.
It’s an awkward setting for a charm offensive by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney.
As the biggest show in politics rolls into town, they will polish the script on trade negotiations, wary of a president distracted, unpredictable and prone to changing the plot.
His distraction, of course, is the political drama back home.
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Daily efforts to steer the media away from the scandal haven’t stemmed the flow of persistent enquiry and revelations that cement Trump’s relationship with Epstein in the public consciousness, and so further raise questions of cover-up.
Donald Trump likes a wall. And now he has his very own 15ft-high metal barrier creating a fortress as he tees off for a weekend of politics, play and precision in Scotland.
An almost surreal contrast now exists in the tiny Ayrshire village of Turnberry.
On one side, the stunning coastline and luxury hotel that bears the president’s name. And on the other, an armed buffer zone with sniper teams and road checkpoints.
This visit is unlike those that have gone before.
The threat level and associated security on display is unprecedented following the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally in the US.
“It would be inappropriate for me to plan an operation and not bear in mind what has happened,” the senior officer in charge of this weekend’s policing efforts told me.
Military trucks are part of a security effort that comes just a year after an attempted assassination
A ‘counter terror’ firm was spotted near the area, which is ringed by a 15ft fence
Turnberry, and its population of about 200 people, have this week witnessed a never-ending stream of Army trucks, terrorist sweeps, road checkpoints, airspace restrictions, sniper positions being erected and Secret Service agents roaming around.
It is the most extensive security deployment in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022.
It is estimated around 5,000 officers will be on the streets, with teams coming from across the UK to assist.
The spectacle primarily centres on Donald Trump coming to play golf before the arrival of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for talks, likely on Monday.
The president, whose mother was born on the Scottish island of Lewis, is then scheduled to travel to his Aberdeenshire resort where a new golf course is set to open.
Police on buggies are patrolling near the course on Scotland’s east coast
Police have even taped off a clothes recycling bin near the course
‘Trump is a decent boss’
Stephanie Campbell and Leanne Maxwell live in Turnberry and used to work at the Trump-owned resort, like many other locals.
The pair told Sky News the very first lesson staff at the resort are given is not in fine service or guest etiquette, but in how to respond to a bomb threat.
It is claimed there are posters above the landline phones in the hotel with instructions on the worst-case scenario.
Stephanie Campbell and Leanne Maxwell say staff are trained in dealing with bomb threats
Stephanie told Sky News: “I had no issues working for him, he is a really decent boss.
“The last time he came there was an element of excitement, I think this time there comes with an added element of concern.
“It brings a lot higher threats and security and it’s much more difficult for everybody in the area.”
Mr Trump at Turnberry in 2018 – he will also visit his Aberdeen course on this trip. Pic: AP
File pic: Reuters
Echoing her concerns, Leanne told Sky News: “Security is obviously being bumped up. It’s quite worrying. He’s quite a man, ain’t he?”
Sweeps of the rooms are carried out by US Secret Service agents after housekeeping staff complete their duties and Trump’s meals, they say, are prepared by a personal chef to avoid the risk of poisoning.
To the outside world, these measures seem standard for a US president. But to those who live in Turnberry, it’s far from normal when they have a date with the commander-in-chief.
Marine One is in place awaiting the president’s arrival
File pic: Reuters
Awkward encounters
Prestwick Airport has become something of an American airbase in recent days.
The infamous armoured limousine, known as “The Beast”, has been spotted being wheeled out of a US military plane as the presidential motorcade prepares for his arrival tonight.
Greeting the president at the doors of Air Force One will be the secretary of state for Scotland, Ian Murray, who previously supported a motion alleging Trump was guilty of “misogynism, racism and xenophobia”.
Another awkward encounter could come in the form of Scottish First Minister John Swinney’s showdown with Mr Trump next week.
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The SNP leader, who publicly backed Kamala Harris in the presidential race, called for September’s state visit to be scrapped after the Ukrainian president’s visit to the White House descended into a shouting match live on TV earlier this year.
Demonstrations are planned throughout the weekend, with marches and protests announced in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Kirsty Haigh, from Scotland Against Trump, claims the president uses Scotland to “cleanse his image” and he should not be able to use the country as an “escape” from his views.
She told Sky News: “He should not be welcomed by us, by our leaders.
“We want to see a Scotland that is very different than [the] America that’s being created.”
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