Texas mall shooting victims include couple and their three-year-old son

A couple and their three-year-old son were killed in a mass shooting in Texas, leaving their six-year-old son, who was wounded but survived, behind.

Two primary school-aged sisters, a young engineer and a security guard were also identified as victims of the mall shooting on Saturday near Dallas.

Cox Elementary School students Daniela and Sofia Mendoza, grades four and two, were among those killed Saturday at Allen Premium Outlets, officials in the Wylie Independent School District said.

They were remembered as “the kindest, most thoughtful students with smiles that could light up any room,” Principal Krista Wilson said in a letter to parents.

Korean American couple Kyu Song Cho, 37, and Cindy Cho, 35 and one of their sons, who was three, were also killed. Another son was wounded and was still hospitalized, said Myoung-Joon Kim, head of mission at the Consulate of the Republic of Korea in Dallas.

Christian LaCour, a 20-year-old security guard, was also named as one of the dead.

Another victim, civil engineer Aishwarya Thatikonda, 26, who was from India, was “always prepared to give her very best,” company founder Srinivas Chaluvadi said via email, the Associated Press reported.

He said her parents live in Hyderabad, India, where her father is a judge.

“She came to the United States with a dream to make a career, build a family, own a home and live forever in Dallas,” Chaluvadi said.

The eighth victim was named as Elio Cumana-Rivas, 32.

Authorities are still trying to piece together what led to the attack, which ended when the suspected gunman — 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia — was fatally shot by police.

Federal officials are looking into whether Garcia expressed an interest in white supremacist ideology, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official cautioned that the investigation is in its early stages.

Federal agents have been reviewing social media accounts they believe Garcia used, as well as posts that expressed interest in white supremacist and neo-Nazi views, said an unnamed official.