It’s been just over a year since a mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen claimed the lives of eight people.
Nine others were wounded when a gunman opened fire on shoppers at the Allen Premium Outlet Mall on May 6, 2023, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The mall closed for close to a month before reopening on May 31, 2023.
A new lawsuit alleges that the mall’s owners and security service engaged in “gross negligence that causally contributed to a mass shooting.” The parties are accused of failing to provide adequate security and ignoring Allen police requests to add more guards.
“Done right, proper security decreases the risk of mass gun violence,” the lawsuit alleges, reported WFAA. “But Simon and Allied unevenly allocated security resources across demographic areas, ignoring location-specific threats and dangers posed at certain malls such as the Allen Premium Outlets.”
CBS News Texas reported on the new lawsuit. Here’s the start of the story:
NORTH TEXAS – A new lawsuit claims significant shortcomings hindered the response to the 2023 shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets, including ignored requests from the police department to help secure the buildings well before the shooting.
The suit, filed Aug. 24 in Dallas County District Court, states the mall received more than 3,000 police calls during the three years before the shooting and only had one security guard on duty the day of the shooting. It claims the shooter chose the mall because he knew it was under-secured.
Eight people were killed and seven others injured in the May 6, 2023, shooting. The gunman also was killed.
Defendants in the suit include Simon Property Group, the mall owner; Allied Universal Security Services, the security contractor; the family of Mauricio Garcia, the shooter; and Bigelow Arizona TX, the owner of Budget Suites of America. Garcia used Budget Suites as a base for planning the attack, the lawsuit claims.
Garcia, a 33-year-old former security guard, was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun during the attack. He wore a tactical vest with a “Right Wing Death Squad” patch. He was fatally shot by a police officer who was at the mall on an unrelated call.