Irvin Walker was trying to find a parking spot Saturday afternoon when the shooting started.
It was just after 3:30 p.m. when a gunman opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets, killing eight people and injuring seven more. Walker was one of the seven: He was shot twice in his chest as the bullets ripped through his car — one of those bullets passing close to his heart — and was hit once in his right shoulder, according to a GoFundMe page raising money for his recovery.
While family members and Walker's Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity brothers rushed to his side in the hospital, his 24-year-old daughter Jasmine said she was hours away in Atlanta when she got the news.
"Our family and his brothers were there to kind of keep me informed, but it's nothing like being in a room of a loved one that's hurt," said Jasmine Walker, who lives in Lewisville with her father. "He's my best friend."
Jasmine Walker spoke about her father to a crowd of hundreds at a vigil at the Allen mall Wednesday.
Since Sunday, when one of the first community vigils took place, the names of all eight people killed have been released by family members, media reports and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Crosses bearing their names stood on the lawn at the entrance to the mall, adorned in even more flowers, artwork and stuffed animals than days prior.
MORE | Remembering the eight people killed in the Allen mall shooting
The shooter, 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia, was killed on scene by police. State officials said Tuesday he displayed neo-Nazi tattoos and regalia, but they still stopped short of calling the mass killing a hate crime.
A DPS official said he was targeting the mall rather than a specific person or demographic.
A spokesperson with Medical City Healthcare wrote Wednesday the hospital is still treating six injured victims across the area. Three are in good condition, two are in fair condition and one is in critical condition.
Irvin Walker is doing better, but has another surgical procedure and "a long road" ahead, his daughter said.
"I visited right before I came here, and I jokingly say, all day long, 'I'm his bodyguard,'" Jasmine Walker said. "So, I got to keep my eye on him."
Irvin Walker's fraternity brothers have been paying him visits as well. Anthony Calime, who met Walker along with some others at the historically Black Grambling State University in Louisiana, said their friend is as humble and optimistic in the hospital as he's always been.
"He is definitely one that is appreciative of all of the support that's coming from friends, friends of friends, just total strangers, the community of Allen, the state of Texas and all over the country," Calime said. "People have poured into his life and it's blessing him day by day."
Community members also stood for several 30-second moments of silence for those who died.
Jasmine Walker asked vigil attendees to hug their loved ones tight and stand together as a community.
"Unity is extremely important," Jasmine Walker said. "Unity is what's bringing us here today, and unity is what's going to push us forward, taking action so that this doesn't happen again."
Got a tip? Email Toluwani Osibamowo at tosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on Twitter @tosibamowo.
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