The FBI’s San Antonio FBI field office said on Sunday that the bureau’s terror task force is probing a mass shooting in downtown Austin that left two people dead and 14 hurt.
The suspect, Ndiaga Diagne, 53, a Senegal-born U.S. citizen who lived in Pflugerville, Texas, was photographed wearing a “property of Allah” shirt.
Alex Dorn, acting special agent in charge of the San Antonio FBI office, said that “it’s still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation” but that “there were indicators, on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism.”
The Austin Police Department said that the shooting occurred just before 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. In a press conference, the department said that the gunman drove an SUV around the block several times before opening fire outside the bar Buford’s in Austin.
Officers responding to the scene shot and killed the gunman, according to the department. The city’s police chief said that the suspect fired from his vehicle window with a pistol and switched to a rifle after exiting the car.
Screen captures of posts that allegedly come from the suspect include references praising the Iranian regime.
Rep. Chip Roy (R- Texas) stated that the “Islamist murderer of Americans in my home of Austin” came on a tourist visa and overstayed “for years.” He added that the suspect applied for legal permanent residence status through his wife, a U.S. citizen, and that he “may have divorced her” and then “applied for citizenship for two more of his wives in succession.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, stated that “this act of violence will not define us nor will it shake the resolve of Texans.”
“To anyone who thinks about using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans or our critical infrastructure, understand this clearly: Texas will respond with decisive and overwhelming force to protect our state,” he said.
