(Houston) The alleged perpetrator of the shootings which left two dead and 14 injured on Sunday in Austin, Texas, had expressed “pro-Iranian regime opinions” on social networks, the target of a major military offensive, according to the monitoring organization for jihadist groups SITE Intelligence Group.
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His identity has not been confirmed by authorities, but he has been identified by this organization and several American media outlets as Ndiaga Diagne, an American citizen of Senegalese origin. He was shot dead on the spot by police.
A photo shared on X by Texas Republican elected official Chip Roy shows the suspect armed with a rifle and wearing a sweatshirt reading “property of Allah”.
According to the SITE Intelligence Group, Ndiaga Diagne expressed “Iranian pro-regime views and hatred toward Israeli and American leaders” in Facebook posts shared between 2017 and 2019, and posted a photo of himself holding what appears to be an assault rifle.
Occurring on the night of Saturday to Sunday near a bar in a busy area of downtown Austin, capital of Texas, the attack left at least two dead and 14 injured.
Three of them were still in critical condition as of Sunday morning, authorities said.
The federal police, the FBI, estimated earlier on Sunday that it could be “an act of terrorism”.
“It is still much too early in the investigation to determine a precise motivation, but there were elements on the suspect and in his vehicle which indicate a potential link with terrorism,” said Alex Doran, an official at the FBI office in San Antonio, at a press conference, who did not give details on the nature of these elements.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt announced on X that Donald Trump was being kept informed of the situation.
Fear of reprisals
The attack occurred hours after the launch on Saturday of an intense campaign of Israeli-American strikes against Iran, which notably killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and which fueled fears of retaliatory attacks in the United States.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced that he had placed his counterterrorism and intelligence teams “on maximum alert.”
“To anyone who would consider using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans or our critical infrastructure, let me be clear: Texas will respond with decisive and overwhelming force to protect our state,” Republican Governor Greg Abbott responded in a statement released after the Austin attack.
The Texas authorities announced on Saturday that they were deploying military reservists to “protect (the) citizens and critical infrastructure against any potential threat of reprisals”.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference Sunday that law enforcement received a call at 1:58 a.m. reporting shots fired around Buford’s, a bar on a busy thoroughfare in the city.
Quickly on scene, the police “were confronted by the armed individual and three of our officers returned fire, killing the suspect,” she said.
She indicated that the assailant, who was traveling in an SUV, first opened fire against customers of the establishment through the window of his vehicle.
He then stopped, got out, and began shooting at passers-by in the street before being shot dead by the police.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the rapid response of the police and our emergency medical personnel (…) made the difference and saved lives,” greeted Austin Mayor Kirk Watson during the press conference.
Speaking of an event “which caused significant trauma to (his) city”, the councilor sent his “thoughts” to the victims and their families.
