A shooting at a bar in Austin, Texas, on Sunday has left three people dead and 14 others injured.
The shooter, who has been identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, is also dead. The gunman had a history of mental illness, according to government sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
Police identified the dead as 21-year-old Savitha Shan, 19-year-old Ryder Harrington and 30-year-old Jorge Pederson.
Investigators are looking into whether Diagne, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Senegal, was ideologically motivated and possibly triggered by the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The shooter was wearing a “Property of Allah” sweatshirt during the attack, two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation who were not permitted to speak on the record told MS NOW.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said Sunday that the shooter was in a vehicle that drove multiple times around the block on Austin’s popular Sixth Street before turning flashers on, rolling down a window and shooting at patrons on the patio of Buford’s Bar.
The FBI responded to the incident alongside the Austin Police Department and both are conducting a joint investigation.
“Obviously, it’s still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation, but there were indicators that on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism,” Alex Doran, an FBI special agent with the bureau’s San Antonio field office, said at a Sunday press conference. “Again, it’s still too early to make a determination on that.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump has been briefed on the shooting.
In a statement following the shooting, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said, “Texas mourns with the families and loved ones of those who were horrifically killed in last night’s attack in Austin.”
Abbott also directed several agencies, including the Texas Military Department, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard, to intensify patrols and increase the number of law enforcement personnel in downtown Austin.
Democratic Senate candidates James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett also commented on the shooting.
“America is praying for Austin,” Talarico said. “But there is something profoundly cynical about asking God to solve a problem we’re not willing to solve ourselves. God moves and works through us. God has no other hands but our hands. We must act.”
“While thoughts and prayers offer comfort, as I head to church this morning I’m reminded that faith without works is dead. So let’s get to work,” Crockett wrote on X.
Marc Santia contributed to this report.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Marc Santia is an investigative correspondent for MS NOW.