The security guard at the Allen Premium Outlets who died while getting a shopper to safety is being commended for his bravery.
Christian LaCour, 20, grew up in Farmersville and was known as a genuinely nice person.
“He was one of the sweetest, most generous kindest students I ever had," said Steven Nappo, a Farmserville High School teacher. "He was the kind of kid that always had a smile on his face; was always positive, always wanting to joke around, stick around class for a few minutes extra just to talk, just to chat, just to see how things were going."
Nappo has worked for more than a decade at the high school and two of those years included teaching LaCour AP Calculus and Astronomy.
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"He pushed himself because he wanted to learn because he wanted to improve himself as a person. He just wanted to understand how the world worked," explained Nappo who said while LaCour was a top-performing student and that it wasn't just grades that motivated him.
Part of his time with LaCour was during the pandemic and said while many students trickled into their Zoom meetings or kept their cameras off, LaCour was the first to sign on with his camera, smiling, ready for class to go.
Nappo said the following year when classes were hybrid, LaCour would ask him to put the iPad in the middle of the classroom on a cart so LaCour could speak with his peers.
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"So, he could talk face-to-face with everyone and joke around and be part of class even though he wasn’t physically there. He was the only student I had who would go to those lengths to be part of the group to talk with everyone to be there with his friends to be laughing and joking even though he didn't have to, he would go that extra distance," said Nappo.
"I always told him that no matter what he chose to be in the future, I know he would be successful," said Nappo.
He, like many in their community, was shocked to learn that LaCour was one of the eight people killed on Saturday when a gunman opened fire at the Allen Premium Outlets.
"When I heard the story at first, I thought scary, something like so close to home, but when you hear tragedies like this you never anticipate it hitting you head on, and then when we got the news that Christian was one of those. I was in disbelief," said Nappo.
The Allen Police Chief commended LaCour for his actions that afternoon because the 20-year-old helped save a life.
"We must also acknowledge the bravery of Allied Security Guard Christian LaCour, who evacuated one individual to safety and was shot while courageously remaining to help others," said Brian Harvey during a news conference on Tuesday.
Allied Universal said LaCour had been an employee since December 2021 and was in the process of becoming a supervisor.
"Christian was the best example of what you want in a security professional. Number one he was personable. His clients loved him. He ensured that his clients knew he was there for them," said Ty Richmond, President of Allied Universal.
Richmond said in the year-and-a-half LaCour had been with the company, he shined and was always willing to step up to volunteer to help in different areas of the job.
"He was a tremendous teammate, his peers and colleagues loved him. He sacrificed in every way you could imagine up until this incident obviously, where he lost his life probably one of the most heroic examples that we've ever seen in one of our security professionals," said Richmond. "Sometimes our society doesn't appreciate the magnitude of what those people do on a daily basis to save lives and to respond to these. This is a perfect example of how important a security professional is in our society."
As people continued to bring flowers and pay their respects to the lives lost at the memorial outside Allen Premium Outlets, those who crossed paths with LaCour also shared memories.
"He used to come to our shop every weekend," said a woman who has a store at the outlets. "Christian was a wonderful person. He was a faithful guy. He was so honest and brave, and I just it’s such a tragedy for all these beautiful people."
In Farmersville, Mayor Bryon Wiebold said local restaurants were providing food for the LaCour family as they navigate the unthinkable. Another restaurant has offered to provide food for the family on Monday during funeral services. The mayor said there's also a campaign to raise money through Commercial Bank of Texas, N.A. for LaCour, in which all the funds will go to the family.
"It's just tragic that a young man of that quality with a future ahead of him loses it," said Wiebold who said he had interacted with LaCour in the past. "We're going to celebrate Christian we're going to turn the lights on in Farmersville Parkway his favorite colors which were red and black, then we're going to put ribbons downtown to commemorate him."
"He was absolutely wonderful, and I would definitely say, the world is a little less without him," said Nappo.
With the outpouring of support for the victims of the mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets, GoFundMe has launched a centralized hub for all verified fundraisers related to the shooting. The online fundraising platform said it was working around the clock to make sure that all funds donated go directly to survivors or the families of victims.
