(AFP) – The gunman who killed two people and wounded 14 overnight in Austin, the capital of the US state of Texas, had expressed “pro-Iranian regime sentiment” on social media, the SITE Intelligence Group said Sunday. The organization, which monitors jihadist groups, identified the assailant, who was shot dead by police, as Ndiaga Diagne, a US citizen of Senegalese origin.
Representative Chip Roy, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, published a picture on X of the purported gunman showing him holding a rifle and wearing a sweatshirt that says “Property of Allah.” SITE said Diagne had expressed “pro-Iranian regime sentiment and hatred for Israeli and American leadership” in Facebook posts dating back to 2017 and had posted a picture of himself holding what appears to be an assault rifle.
FBI special agent Alex Doran said earlier Sunday that a motive for the attack was not known but “there were indicators on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism.” “In terms of specifically what type of terrorism, we’re just at this point prepared to say that it was potentially an act of terrorism,” Doran said at a press conference. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was brought in to participate in the investigation alongside local authorities, he said.
The shooting comes amid heightened security in many American cities following the launching of US and Israeli air strikes on Iran that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and several other senior officials. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he was stepping up security at energy facilities, ports and along the US-Mexico border. “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,” Abbott said in a statement.
Austin police chief Lisa Davis said the assailant was shot and killed by police who responded to the shooting, which took place around 2:00 am in Austin’s entertainment district. The officers “were faced with the individual with a gun and three of our officers returned fire, killing the suspect,” Davis said. She said the gunman first opened fire with a pistol from his car on patrons of Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden in downtown Austin. He then parked his car and emerged with a rifle and began shooting at people who were walking by, Davis said. Three of the wounded were in critical condition, officials said.
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