Heart-pounding bodycam video shows the moment a Texas cop gunned down a neo-Nazi shooter who killed eight people and wounded seven others during a bloody rampage at a shopping mall.
The video, released late Wednesday by the Allen Police Department, came a day after the unnamed officer was cleared of wrongdoing in the May 6 takedown of gunman Mauricio Garcia at the Allen Premium Outlets near Dallas.
In the footage, the officer is first seen talking to a woman with two children on a sunny afternoon in the parking lot of the shopping center — when multiple shots suddenly go off in the background.
“I think we got shots fired at the Alamo,” the cop said as he returns to his squad car for a rifle. “We got people running.”
“Get down! Get down!” the cop yells at shoppers running out of the retail center. “Get moving. We got people coming.”
As the officer runs, panting, toward the sound of the gun blasts, he radios his headquarters, reporting: “I believe we’ve got a mass shooter. I’m passing injured [people].”
Moments later the officer spots Garcia outside the mall.
“Drop the gun!” the cop shouts as shots are exchanged, then declares: “I’ve got him down.”
The video ends with two police officers standing over Garcia, who is blurred out on the footage.
Garcia had a history of white supremacist posts online — including claims that mass shootings were a sport — and photos of large Nazi tattoos on his body, police later learned.
Authorities said Garcia had been booted from the Army years earlier for mental health reasons.
Killed in the mass shooting were three members of a Korean-American family, Kyo Song Cho, 37, Cindy Cho, 35, and their 3-year-old son, James Cho. The couple’s 6-year-old son was wounded.
Also killed were two young sisters, Daniela Mendoza, 11, and Sofia Mendoza, 8; Aishwarya Thatikonda, 27; Elio Cumana-Rivas, 32; and security guard Christian LaCour, 20.
Earlier this week, a grand jury cleared the officer of wrongdoing in Garcia’s death.
“This video shows how quickly a routine interaction with the public turned into a life-and-death situation,” Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said in a statement praising the cop.
“The officer recognized the danger, ran toward the gunfire and neutralized the threat — and for his actions, the Allen community is forever grateful,” Harvey said.
With Post wires
