AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A gunman in Texas opened fire on a crowded bar in Austin’s busy nightlife district over the weekend before being fatally shot by police in an attack that authorities are investigating as a possible act of terrorism.
The shooting early Sunday killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others. The suspect was wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah,” a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
The mass shooting happened after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Iran. The FBI and Austin police said they are still looking for a motive behind the shooting, which sent people in the bar and surrounding streets scrambling for cover.
Suspect fired first shots, parked, then fired again
Police said the gunman drove past Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden before circling back and firing the first shots from his SUV at people on the sidewalk and inside the bar.
Some college students dove for cover while others stayed motionless inside the bar and across the street next to a food truck, trying to understand what was happening.
The shooting stopped for a moment. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the suspect parked, got out with a rifle and fired on others before officers rushed to the intersection and shot him.
Davis identified two victims as 21-year-old Savitha Shan and 19-year-old Ryder Harrington. Austin Police announced Monday evening that 30-year-old Jorge Pederson also died from his injuries.
Harrington joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Texas Tech University in 2024, the fraternity said in an Instagram post. Shan’s LinkedIn profile listed her as a dual-degree student majoring in management information systems and economics at the University of Texas.
University president says shooting affected students
The bar is on Sixth Street, a nightlife destination filled with bars and music clubs near the flagship campus of the University of Texas system. The school is one of the nation’s largest universities with 55,000 enrolled students.
Nathan Comeaux, a 22-year-old senior, spent the evening there with friends and said the bar was “full of college students, probably mostly UT kids, shoulder to shoulder, hundreds just enjoying their nights.”
Some of those affected included “members of our Longhorn family,” University President Jim Davis said, using the name of the school’s mascot.
Police taped off several square blocks around Sixth Street after the shooting. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and other federal investigators joined local police at the scene.
Shooter was originally from Senegal and legally bought the weapons
Both the FBI and police in Austin said Monday that it’s too soon to identify the motive.
Police said the gunman was 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. He legally bought the pistol and rifle he used in the attack several years ago in San Antonio, Davis said.
Diagne was originally from Senegal, according to multiple people briefed on the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
He first entered the U.S. in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa, becoming a lawful permanent resident six years later after marrying a U.S. citizen, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Associated Press reporters on Monday were unable to reach Diagne’s family members in the Austin area or his ex-wife, who recently was listed as living near San Antonio. A person who answered the door at a house listed for his ex-wife declined to comment and told a reporter to talk with investigators.
Police responded within 1 minute
The entertainment district has a heavy police presence on weekends, and officers were able to confront the gunman within a minute of the first call for help, the police chief said.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson praised the fast response of police and emergency workers.
“They definitely saved lives,” he said.
Comeaux, the UT Austin senior, filmed the suspect as he walked toward Buford’s with his gun pointed at officers, and officers fired at him.
“The shooter was walking towards where I was and towards where the bar was, where there could have been 10 times as much damage if he’d gone back to the bar where hundreds of students were hiding,” Comeaux said. “So I’m just very grateful for the heroic police officers who were able to stop the suspect.”
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McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker and Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed.
