Dad shot 3 times got into ‘survival mode,’ escaped Texas mall massacre

(ALLEN, Texas) — Irvin Walker II had just dropped off his wife at the Allen Premium Outlets in Texas when a gunman fired shots into his car, hitting him three times.

The dad and husband “got into survival mode,” his attorney, Daryl Washington, told ABC News. “He wanted to live.”

Walker tried to drive away, but he was losing so much blood that he was afraid of bleeding out, Washington said, so he ran to a store for help. But Walker then realized he was at risk in the store, too, because he didn’t know where the gunman was located.

As Walker left the store, he witnessed 20-year-old mall security guard Christian LaCour get shot and killed, Washington said.

“He loves his family, he loves his daughter. … These are the things that was going through his mind, whether he’d ever see his family again,” Washington said.

Walker kept fleeing the mall area until “someone picked him up and put him in the back of a police cruiser” to bring him to safety, Washington said.

The suspect, who died after a confrontation with police, had three weapons on his person and five in his car when he opened fire at the mall on Saturday afternoon, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Eight people were killed and seven, including Walker, were injured.

Walker, who’s suffering from physical and mental injuries, has completed one surgery and may need a second, his attorney said.

Among the physical scars are bullet fragments lodged into his skin all over his body, Washington said.

“That’s gonna be with him for the remainder of his life — he won’t be able to do just simple things, [like] going into an airport, without the security alarm going off,” the attorney said.

“There’s no need for a gun with that amount of strength to be on the street,” Washington added.

Authorities said Tuesday that it appears the suspect, Mauricio Garcia, targeted the mall and shot people at random. A motive remains unknown.

ABC News’ Connor Burton contributed to this report.