ALLEN, Texas — It was a once in a lifetime moment for Mireya Rodriguez. The 22-year-old from Plano got an invitation last week by email from the White House inviting her to a gun violence prevention meeting.
"Oh my gosh, I got a letter in my email addressed from the White House!" Mireya recounts telling her father, still in disbelief.
Rodriguez was one of many witnesses to the mass shooting tragedy in Allen that left nine people dead, including the gunman. More than a year after the mass shooting at the Allen Outlet Mall, Rodriguez is still dealing with its impact.
"Part of my mind still thinks it was last week," she shares. "I've accepted what happened," she said.
Rodriguez works at the Steve Madden store — right across from where the shooting took place. She said she vividly remembers the traumatic moments, rushing to the backroom for safety as the attack unfolded. The memory of gunfire haunts her daily life.
"I hear the rounds that went off, I hear the pattern of what an AR-15 sounds like," Rodriguez said.
Even simple things can be triggering.
"I ordered strawberry waffles, and I couldn’t even look at the color red," she said.
Though the panic attacks have become less frequent, Mireya attributes some of her healing to her involvement in activism. Now a volunteer leader with Students Demand Action at the University of Texas at Dallas, she advocates for change.
"I remember seeing the effects of a mass murder that should have never happened," Rodriguez said firmly.
Recently, her advocacy caught the attention of the nation’s highest office.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden introduced executive orders in attempts to prevent gun violence. The order "[directs] federal agencies to improve school-based active shooter drills and combat the emerging threats of machinegun conversion devices and unserialized, 3D-printed firearms, as well as additional executive actions that advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s agenda to reduce gun violence and save lives" reads a statement from the White House.
This week also marks the one-year anniversary of when Biden established the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris.
"None of the restrictions that are being proposed by this administration's executive order (and abuse of position) will make society safer. It only restricts those who are willing to abide by the law. It does not stop lawbreakers with ill intent from doing harm to others. Criminals do not care about our well being or the law," said Wes Virdell, former Texas State Director for Gun Owners of America and current Republican Nominee for State Representative, TX HD53.
At the event, Rodriguez carried with her a picture of her friend and one of the fatal victims from the Allen shooting: Christian LaCour.
"He's the reason that I am going. I have a survivor story because I did survive Allen. But, Christian LaCour was my friend. One of us got to the leave that day and one of us didn't, unfortunately," she said.
She says she wanted to take his picture so Biden understands that Christian's life mattered and should not have been taken that day.