In the early hours of Sunday morning, as a bar in a busy nightlife district of Austin, Texas, ready to shut for the night time, patrons and employees have been startled by the sound of gunshots.
Armed with a pistol and a rifle, a person opened hearth from exterior the venue on town’s bustling Sixth Street, killing two folks and wounding 14 others, based on the Austin Police Department and the FBI’s San Antonio Division.
Investigators at the moment are working to find out whether or not the suspect – who was fatally shot by police – was motivated by latest US and Israeli strikes on Iran, a number of regulation enforcement officers briefed on the case mentioned, cautioning that it’s too early to attract agency conclusions.
Investigators are additionally trying into the person’s legal historical past and his psychological well being standing, supply mentioned.
Here’s what we know:
The suspected gunman was recognized as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, Austin Police Department mentioned in an X post Sunday night.
The suspect was carrying a shirt with an Iranian flag design on it beneath a hoodie printed with “Property of Allah,” a regulation enforcement official informed NCS.
“Obviously, it’s still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation, but there were indicators on the subject and then his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism,” Alex Doran, appearing particular agent in command of the FBI San Antonio Division, mentioned at a information convention Sunday morning.
A big regulation enforcement presence was seen Sunday at a house linked to the suspect in Pflugerville, a suburb of Austin, NCS affiliate KEYE reported.
Investigators have been seen taking containers of things from the house and trying carefully at a automobile within the driveway, KEYE mentioned.
Authorities looking his house have been seemingly investigating his computer systems and telephones to find out if he was studying any propaganda or left any writings indicating what he meant to do, an official informed NCS.
Diagne entered the United States on March 13, 2000, on a B‑2 vacationer visa, a Department of Homeland Security official informed NCS. In June 2006, he adjusted his standing to lawful everlasting resident based mostly on marriage to a US citizen and naturalized on April 5, 2013.
Diagne was initially from Senegal, a regulation enforcement official aware of the investigation informed NCS.
Upon arriving within the US, Diagne initially settled in New York and finally made his technique to Texas, though it’s not clear when, the official mentioned. He had a number of addresses within the Lone Star State, the official added.
In 2022, he was arrested in Texas on a cost of collision with car injury, a misdemeanor offense, based on the DHS official.
Authorities are additionally reviewing previous psychological well being encounters the suspect had whereas residing in Texas, a number of regulation enforcement officers have mentioned.
NCS has reached out to the Austin Police Department and FBI San Antonio for extra particulars.
The lethal assault is amongst 56 mass shootings within the US to date this 12 months, based on the Gun Violence Archive.
The violence erupted alongside a stretch of Sixth Street, within the metropolis’s downtown Market District, identified for its dense focus of bars and dwell music venues – a bustling hall only a brief drive from the University of Texas at Austin.
Authorities first acquired a name about a person taking pictures from a big SUV, exterior Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis mentioned.
Gunshots ring out in Austin bar district
“At one point, he put his flashers on, rolled down his window, and began using a pistol, shooting out of his car windows, striking patrons of the bar that were on the patio and that were in front of the bar,” Davis mentioned.
The suspect then drove westbound on Sixth Street, parked his car and bought out on foot with a rifle, Davis mentioned. He then started taking pictures at folks strolling by, she mentioned.
Authorities reached the suspect in lower than a minute, Davis mentioned.
“Our suspect was coming toward East Austin or East Sixth Street, officers were coming toward him, and at the intersection, he was shot and he was killed at this time,” Davis mentioned.
Video from the scene reveals regulation enforcement officers operating towards the scene as folks duck for canopy.
Nathan Comeaux, a 22-year-old University of Texas senior, informed NCS he left Buford’s round 1:45 a.m. to get pizza from a meals truck throughout the road. Just earlier than 2 a.m., he and his buddies all of a sudden heard gunshots.
“At first, no one was panicking,” Comeaux mentioned. “There were probably 15 people eating pizza there, and we thought it was like fireworks or a car backfiring or something.”
Because nobody initially ran, he mentioned, they stored consuming. It wasn’t till police arrived that they realized one thing was unsuitable.
“We see the lights coming up, and then everyone starts to run, like, ‘Oh, God. Like, this is real,’” Comeaux mentioned. “So people start running, and then the cops start running.”
Officials haven’t launched the identities or ages of the 2 folks killed or the 14 folks injured.
University of Texas at Austin President Jim Davis mentioned in a statement Sunday a few of these affected by the taking pictures embrace “members of our Longhorn family.”
“Our prayers are with the victims and all those impacted,” he mentioned.
“Our hearts go out to the people that are victims of this. And I want to again reiterate my thanks to our public safety officers and officials that so rapidly were on the scene,” Austin Mayor Kirk Watson mentioned on the information convention. “They definitely saved lives.”
Three of these hospitalized have been in vital situation, officers have mentioned.
Paramedics within the space responded shortly, based on Robert Luckritz, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services chief.
“We had more than 20 EMS resources that responded to the scene. We had all critical patients off the scene within 24 minutes, and all patients off the scene within 47 minutes,” Luckritz mentioned.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott condemned the assault and mentioned he ordered the Texas Military Department to activate patrols to guard communities and vital infrastructure, together with power amenities and ports. He additionally directed the state’s Department of Public Safety to extend patrols and regulation enforcement personnel within the Sixth Street space on weekends.
“This act of violence will not define us, nor will it shake the resolve of Texans,” he mentioned in an announcement.
Abbott warned the state would reply aggressively to anybody “using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans.”