A Black father reacted quickly to protect his 16-year-old daughter when a gunman opened fire at a crowded mall in Allen, Texas, on Saturday afternoon.
Geoffrey Keaton and his daughter were having lunch at Fatburger inside the Allen Premium Outlets when they heard gunshots and said he immediately knew what was happening.
“I immediately knew,” Keaton told The New York Times. “I got my baby girl under the counter to shield her, then they got louder like he was right there.”
He said that the restaurant’s manager allowed customers to hide in the back, and they were able to exit through a rear door to get to their cars.
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“You could see bodies of people he had shot on the sidewalk,” Keaton said to The New York Times.
Mauricio Garcia, 33, was identified by authorities as the gunman that killed eight people and wounded seven before being killed by an officer already at the mall for an unrelated call. The victims’ ages reportedly ranged from 5 to 61 years old. Garcia used an AR-15-style weapon during the attack and reportedly received firearms training as a security guard.
According to CNN, Garcia worked as a security officer from 2016 to 2020 for three separate companies.
Before being commissioned as a security guard, he reportedly received Level II and Level III training required by all commissioned security officers in Texas. It included firearms training and the demonstration of firearm proficiency, according to vice president of Ranger Guard Jonah Nathan.
Garcia also reportedly completed a separate firearm proficiency training course that required six hours of continued training.
In addition to his extensive firearm training, authorities also are investigating if Garcia was motivated by right-wing extremism. He was reportedly found to have…
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