Early Sunday morning, a foreign-born radical armed with a pistol and a rifle allegedly opened fire outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden in Austin, killing two individuals and wounding 14 others.
Authorities indicated that the now-dead suspect, identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, drove around the area several times in an SUV before taking aim through a vehicle window at patrons outside the bar.
‘This act of violence will not define us.’
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis noted during a press conference on Sunday that after the initial shooting, the suspect parked his SUV nearby, then opened fire with a rifle on unsuspecting pedestrians. Police intercepted the suspect as he made his way down East 6th Street and fatally shot him.
Once the dead suspect’s vehicle was identified, the APD’s bomb squad ensured that there were no explosives present.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson lauded the work of the first responders and police officers who rushed into action on Sunday morning, noting that they “saved countless lives.”
While law enforcement is still investigating the shooter’s motives, Alex Doran, an active special agent with the FBI’s San Antonio field office, noted that “there were indicators … on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism.”
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Photo by Stephanie Tacy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Doran would not comment on the nature of those “indicators.” However, a law enforcement official told CNN that the dead suspect was wearing a shirt with an Iranian flag design on it as well as a hoodie emblazoned with the text, “Property of Allah.”
A law enforcement official told the New York Times that a Quran was recovered from the suspect’s vehicle.
The Department of Homeland Security reportedly indicated that Diagne entered the U.S. on a B-2 tourist visa in March 2000 and was naturalized in April 2013, seven years after his marriage to an American citizen.
A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN that the suspect, who was arrested in 2022 on a charge of collision with vehicle damage, is originally from the Sunni Muslim nation of Senegal.
On Sunday afternoon, federal and local authorities reportedly raided a house outside Pflugerville, roughly 30 miles north of the shooting, where the suspect apparently resided.
While officials did not immediately name the victims, University of Texas at Austin President Jim Davis said in a statement on Sunday that among those impacted by the shooting are “members of our Longhorn family.”
Ryder Harrington, a Texas Tech Red Raider, was ultimately identified by loved ones as one of the decedents.
A GoFundMe page raising funds for the Harrington family noted that “Ryder was a beloved son, brother, and friend whose kindness and presence touched countless lives. From the moment he joined our brotherhood, he brought a light that was impossible to ignore.”
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) noted, “From all accounts, Ryder was exactly the kind of young man who made a difference without even trying — full of life, loyal to his friends, proud to be a Red Raider and a Texan, and someone who showed up for the people around him.”
“This act of violence will not define us, nor will it shake the resolve of Texans,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said in response to the shooting.
“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,” added the governor.
Abbott indicated further that on Saturday, he directed the Texas Military Department to activate service members to work with federal and state partners to “safeguard our communities and critical infrastructure” and tasked the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard with intensifying patrols and surveillance.
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