According to a GoFundMe page created on Monday, William Cho, 6, was the lone survivor among his family after they were fatally shot in Saturday’s mass shooting that occurred at a mall in Allen, Texas.
33-year-old Mauricio Garcia killed eight people and injured several others. Garcia was ultimately shot and killed by an Allen Police Department officer who was at the mall for an unrelated call.
The GoFundMe page stated, “On Saturday, May 6th, Cindy, Kyu, William and James Cho visited the Allen outlet mall together in North Texas. William just celebrated his 6th birthday 4 days prior and James is 3. An afternoon that should have been filled with light, love and celebration unfortunately was cut short by another mass shooting massacre…Cindy, Kyu and 3-year old James were among those victims that tragically lost their lives and the family is in deep mourning. After being released from the ICU, their 6-year old son, William, is the only surviving member of this horrific event.”
As of this writing, the GoFundMe page has raised almost $1.3 million.
The Allen Police Department said that it first responded to the sounds of gunshots at the mall at around 3:36 p.m. local time.
“The officer engaged the suspect and neutralized the threat. He then called for emergency personnel,” the department wrote in a series of tweets.
Multiple media outlets over the weekend reported that Garcia was under investigation for suspected ties to right-wing extremist ideologies sparked by a patch on his tactical vest that had an acronym for the phrase, “Right Wing Death Squad.” Others familiar with the investigation told outlets like The Washington Post that they suspected Garcia may even have had white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs.