Case of mistaken identify leads to false claim about Texas mall shooter mugshots | Fact check

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·2 min read
8

The claim: Photos show the Texas mall shooter, Mauricio Garcia

A May 7 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a tweet featuring two mugshots of a man.

"Dallas Texas," reads part of the tweet's text. "The Outlet mall shooter has been identified as Mauricio Garcia 33-year-old Security Guard who was living in a motel."

The post garnered more than 400 likes in three days. The original tweet has been deleted. Similar versions of the post have been shared on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The mugshots show a different man with the same name as the shooter.

Pictures don't show Texas shooter

Eight people were killed and seven injured after 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets in Dallas, Texas, on May 6, authorities said.

The pictures included in the Facebook post don't show Garcia, however.

Douglas Sisk, a spokesperson for the Dallas County Sheriff's Department, told USA TODAY the man pictured in the mugshots has the same name as the shooter but is not him. He also said the shooter has not been processed in the Dallas County Jail.

That's because Garcia was killed by police when they arrived on the scene.

Fact check: Posts falsely link Twitter user's bedroom to Nashville shooter

Using information published by The New York Times, Aric Toler, a reporter at the independent investigative organization Bellingcat, found one of Garcia's social media profiles. The shooter had a profile on the Russian social media website Odnoklassniki, where he shared numerous pictures of himself. Some of those pictures show Garcia with tattoos that match those visible on the shooter's deceased body.

None of the photos match those in the Instagram post.

His profile on the Russian social media site has since been removed.

The user who shared the post told USA TODAY they couldn't provide evidence to prove the images show the shooter.

The claim has also been debunked by the Associated Press.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, viral photos don't show Texas mall shooter | Fact check