Authorities probe whether Austin shooter was motivated by Iran strikes, sources say

CNN

By Chris Boyette, Karina Tsui, John Miller, Holmes Lybrand, CNN

(CNN) — Investigators are working to determine whether the suspect in a deadly mass shooting in Austin, Texas, was motivated by Saturday’s attack on Iran by the US and Israel, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case said, cautioning that it’s too early to draw any conclusions.

Two people were killed and 14 others wounded in the shooting, which sent revellers running for cover in Austin’s busy entertainment district early Sunday before the suspect was fatally shot by police.

Later Sunday, the Austin Police Department identified the suspected gunman as Ndiaga Diagne, offering no additional information.

Diagne was wearing a hoodie reading “Property of Allah” and a shirt with an Iranian flag design underneath, a law enforcement official briefed on the case told CNN.

Three of those hospitalized are in critical condition, officials said.

“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, acting special agent in charge of the FBI San Antonio Division, said at a news conference Sunday morning.

Diagne was a 53-year-old United States citizen originally from Senegal, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. He appears to have arrived in the US in the early 2000s and initially settled in New York, the official told CNN. Diagne became a US citizen in 2013, the official said.

It’s not clear when the suspect arrived in Texas, but he did have multiple addresses in the state, the official added.

Authorities have searched the man’s home, the official said. They want to search his computers and phones to determine whether he was reading any propaganda or left any writings indicating what he intended to do.

Authorities are also reviewing past mental health encounters the suspect had while living in Texas, multiple law enforcement officials said.

The suspect had both a pistol and an assault rifle in his possession at the time of the shooting, a spokesperson for the FBI’s San Antonio office told CNN on Sunday.

There have been at least 56 mass shootings in the US so far this year – defined as when at least four people are shot, not including the shooter – according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Authorities first received a call about a man shooting from a large SUV, outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden at West Sixth and Rio Grande streets, according to Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis. The intersection sits along a stretch of Sixth Street known for its dense concentration of bars and live music clubs that is a short drive from the University of Texas at Austin.

The SUV had been spotted circling the block before the shooting, she said.

“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 said.

The suspect then drove westbound on Sixth Street, parked his vehicle and got out on foot with a rifle, Davis said. He then began shooting at people walking by, she said.

Because police and emergency medical teams are predeployed downtown on weekends, authorities reached the suspect in less than a minute, Davis said.

“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 said. She previously told reporters three officers “returned fire” when they encountered the suspect.

Nathan Comeaux, a 22-year-old University of Texas senior who had been at the bar with friends, told the Associated Press the venue was “full of college students, probably mostly UT kids, shoulder to shoulder, hundreds just enjoying their nights.”

Comeaux left the bar about 10 minutes earlier to get pizza from a food truck across the street when the first shots rang out. At first, he said, bystanders mistook the noise for fireworks or a motorcycle backfiring.

He hid behind a bench for about a minute before emerging and seeing officers run toward the scene, AP reported. When Comeaux raised his phone to record, more shots rang out, and he saw the gunman turn his weapon toward police before officers shot him.

Comeaux said he knows one person who was shot and suspected that many other students did as well. “The UT community has definitely been majorly affected by this,” he told AP.

University of Texas at Austin President Jim Davis said in a statement Sunday some of those affected included “members of our Longhorn family.”

“Our prayers are with the victims and all those impacted,” he said.

The bomb squad was called in after investigators saw items inside the suspect’s vehicle that raised concerns, Davis said, but the vehicle was “cleared pretty quickly,” and it was determined there were no explosives.

“This is a tragic, tragic incident,” Davis said. “Our federal partners are here, as well as others, and this will be a scene that will take several hours to process.”

The FBI San Antonio Division, which covers the Austin area, confirmed the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force has joined the investigation based on evidence found at the scene.

Paramedics embedded in the entertainment district with the Austin Police Department on weekends quickly responded, according to 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 said.

“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 said at the news conference. “They definitely saved lives.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott condemned the attack and said he ordered the Department of Public Safety to increase patrols and law enforcement personnel in the Sixth Street area on weekends.

“This act of violence will not define us, nor will it shake the resolve of Texans,” he said in a statement.

Abbott warned the state would respond aggressively to anyone “using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Hanna Park and Amanda Watts contributed to this report.