AUSTIN — Local authorities in Texas This Monday they identified the author of a shooting this Sunday in a bar in Austin, the state capital, and reported that the number of victims The fatalities will rise to four as they will remove life support from one of the injured who was in critical condition.
The suspect was identified as Ndiaga Diagne, a citizen of Senegalese origin and a naturalized American who lived in the suburbs of Austin. The authorities released his photograph. He was shot dead at the scene by police officers.
The 53-year-old man was shot by authorities responding to the incident and was wearing a sweater with the phrase “property of Allah” and a shirt with the flag of Iran, according to local officials at a press conference this afternoon.
Terrorism?
Although federal authorities, including the FBI, are investigating the shooting as a possible act of terrorism, They have not yet found a clear motive for the shooting.
“Any statement about what caused that motive would be premature, we want to have the facts 100% correct,” said FBI special agent Alex Doran, speaking to reporters.
The suspect was not on authorities’ radar, Doran and Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said.
The incident took place around 2 a.m. local time on Sunday in a popular college bar area.
The suspect was hanging around the street of the bar before starting to shoot, first from his car and then from the street, wounding people who were in the patio and inside a bar.
House Republican Chip Roy posted on
The SITE Intelligence Group said Diagne had expressed “pro-Iranian regime sentiments and hatred toward the Israeli and American leadership” on Facebook since 2017 and had posted a photo of himself holding what appears to be an assault rifle.
They identify the first two victims
Authorities today also identified the two fatal victims of the shooting as Savitha Shan and Ryan Harrington, but did not provide more information about the third, who is expected to be taken off life support this afternoon.
In the early hours of this Saturday, the United States and Israel began an operation against Iran that ended with the death of the ayatollah and a large part of his leadership. Iran, for its part, responded with attacks on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and some countries in the region where there are US military bases.
After the start of the bombings was announced, FBI Director Kash Patel raised the terrorist alert level in the United States.
The FBI’s Joint Counterterrorism Group is participating in the investigation along with local authorities.
Texas strengthens security
The officers “found themselves confronted by an armed individual and three of our officers returned fire, killing the suspect,” Davis said.
The police chief indicated that the gunman first opened fire with a pistol from his car at customers at Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden in downtown Austin.
He then parked the vehicle, got out with a rifle and began shooting at people passing by, Davis said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he was beefing up security at energy facilities, ports and along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“To anyone who considers taking advantage of the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans or our critical infrastructure, please understand clearly: Texas will respond with determined and overwhelming force to protect our state,” he said in a statement.
