6-year-old boy is lone survivor of family in Texas mass shooting
ALLEN, Texas -- A 6-year-old is the only surviving member of his family after his parents and little brother were gunned down in the weekend mass shooting at a mall in Allen, Texas.
The Cho family was visiting the Allen Premium Outlets mall just days after William Cho turned six years old, according to a GoFundMe page created for the family.
When a shooter clad in black body armor opened fire at the mall with a semi-automatic rifle, among the dead were Kyo Song Cho, 37, Cindy Cho, 35, and their 3-year-old son James. William Cho was wounded and treated at a nearby hospital.
"An afternoon that should have been filled with light, love and celebration unfortunately was cut short by another mass shooting massacre that left 8 victims dead," read a message on the GoFundMe page. "Cindy, Kyu and three year old James were among those victims that tragically lost their lives and the family is in deep mourning."
The rampage only stopped when a police officer who happened to be at the mall shot and killed the gunman.
The GoFundMe page for the Cho family has raised over $700,000 in less than eight hours.
Authorities are still investigating the motive of the shooter, identified as 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia. He was said to be armed with multiple weapons, including an assault rifle, wearing tactical gear and carrying items that expressed interest in far-right and racist ideology.
It wasn't immediately clear if he chose his victims, including the Korean-American Cho family, because of their race.
What we know about Texas mall shooter
Investigators determined that Garcia was equipped with a ballistic vest, ammunition and additional handguns.
Other victims have been identified as Christian LaCour, a 20-year-old security guard who worked at the mall, Aishwarya Thatikonda, 26, an engineer originally from India who worked as an engineer in Texas; two sisters, Sofia Mendoza, 8, and Daniela Mendoza, 11; and Elio Cumana-Rivas, a 32-year-old Dallas man.
