Victims identified in Texas mass shooting potentially linked to Iran strikes

Victims identified in Texas mass shooting that officials say may have been motivated by Iran strikes

Uh, I want to start off by saying just *** couple of things. One is I want to again say how proud we are and I am of our police, fire, and EMS. Our public safety professionals did *** tremendous job, uh, *** job where they were moving quickly and bravely to make sure that lives were saved. There were lots of acts of heroism on Sunday morning. I also want to say *** special thank you to the Victim Services of the Austin Police Department for the role that they’re playing. Uh, they are doing, uh, their typical outstanding job. I thank our federal partners on behalf of the city of Austin, uh, all of them. I want to, uh, reiterate, uh, our appreciation of their professional work and of course this investigation is still ongoing, but we deeply appreciate their being involved. I know that the people of Austin, Texas continue to hold the victims of this horrible tragedy in their thoughts and prayers. And then that leads me to also wanting to say *** special thanks to the healthcare workers that have played such an important and prominent role in, in addressing the needs of, of Austinites uh after this tragedy. Uh, I’ll have *** few more things to say, but I want to bring up our chief of police who, uh, again, I, I deeply appreciate the work that, that she has done and the way she has handled this matter is Chief Davis. Thank you, ma’am. The last 34 hours have been some of the most challenging in my career. This has been difficult for our community, devastating to the impacted families. And challenging to our APD family. I want to thank our federal partners, Special Agent in Charge and the Evidence Response Team with the FBI. APD cannot do this alone. We are still in the early hours of this investigation. This is *** complicated and large crime scene. Our priority is finding answers and the motives behind this crime. I want to thank everyone that has supported our communities and this response. Families will need this in the days ahead. I also want to thank victim services that have come in addition to APD’s victim services that includes FBI, the Travis County District Attorney, and multiple calls of people wanting to help. I cannot imagine the grief. Pain and loss these families are feeling today, and my heart is with them. Savitha, Shawn. And Ryder Harrington. To the impacted families that are still waiting for answers, we are here for you. *** family resource center is being stood up. As we know, numerous people have been affected by this, and we’re daily, hourly getting calls of people that have been victimized by this. The department will be releasing information soon on what that looks like. When I arrived on the scene, again, it was complex and very large. The work being done by the Austin Fire Department, the Travis County Emergency Medical Service, and APD was quite impressive. Once the initial scene was secured, we reached out to our federal partners to assist in this resource intensive scene and to address concerns of potential terrorism. We are working in tandem with the FBI conducting numerous interviews and gathering evidence. If you can imagine, we have over 150 witnesses to this event that we are, are working with the FBI. And we are also investigating an officer involved shooting. As I have committed in the past in any officer involved shooting, we will be releasing info as quickly as possible later this week. Potentially Thursday we’ll be releasing body worn camera of this event as well as information on the suspect, including criminal history. Again, we are making, and I want you to know that we are making tremendous significant progress in this case, but it will take time. In closing, I want to take, again, uh, *** minute, you know, as the mayor, echo the mayor and talk about just the fantastic work that the Austin Police Department, uh with the um Travis County Emergency Medical Services, um, did here. Multiple lives were saved. You know, in Texas, we are fortunate to have the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, and that’s the alert center through Texas State University. And that training, there’s no doubt that that and that coordinated response with EMS saved lives this night. Fair. I’ll turn it back to you. I also want to point out that um we’re joined today by our city manager, uh TC Broadnax and council member who represents the downtown area, Zo Codre. Before we take your questions, I want to say that we recognize that this is *** very traumatic moment in our city. Uh, But when I talk about being proud of APD and fire and EMS, I want to also say how proud I am and how the people that are this city have reacted with such great compassion. We’re all mourning together and grieving as *** group, but we’re seeing tremendous compassion and love coming out of the people of Austin. And so I urge everyone at this moment of trauma to reach out to each other and take care of each other and take care of our home. Be with each other. While this is *** dark moment, our people are creating *** lot of light in Austin, Texas, and what we do for each other matters. So now we’re, we’re happy to, uh, if there’s *** few questions to, to take *** few questions. I start over here. We can start over here and then we’ll go here. Yeah, um, has this impacted any plans, security plans for South by South West? Uh, it is not, you know, we, we have *** press conference, I believe, next Thursday for our spring festival season. And certainly as we look at um Austin and what makes Austin so great are those events. Um, we are *** major city police department and we go in best practices. I feel confident that the resources we have in play, uh, South by Southwest will continue on and it will be *** safe festival season. Do we know how the suspects acquired these guns and whether they were acquired legally? Uh, the, the guns were required legally, I believe, in 2017 out of San Antonio. They were, they were purchased. Can you tell us more about the victims? I think you said Savitha, Sean, and Ryder Harrison. Ryder Harrington. Harrington, OK. Can you tell us more of the UT students? I, I think Ryder, uh, is *** Texas Tech student. I don’t know. They, they, um, as far as what, what school they went to, um, that’s certainly something that we can look into, but they were young. I believe, uh, Ryder was maybe 22 and Savitha, um, 24 or 20 respectively. Are you able to share any details about the warrants that were executed yesterday in Del Valley and in Claverville? So anytime that you’re doing an investigation like this, it’s going to lead to, to search warrants. And so those warrants were based off information of where this person lived, um, addresses where he, uh, congregated, um, and, and evidence was taken from that. There is *** video circulating on social media of an autonomous vehicle blocking emergency services near the scene on Sunday. Can you guys talk about the situation, what you encountered, and how you, you know, as you were accessing the scene and transporting victims? Yeah, I think that’s something, um, I don’t know if, um, Rob, if you wanted to address it. So, uh, we, Rob Lukritz, chief of Austin Travis County EMS, um, EMS as well as our fellow public safety partners work very closely with the autonomous vehicle vendors that operate here in the city of Austin. We had more than 20 assets, uh, resources that responded to this event, um, as was said, uh, at an earlier press conference, we were on scene within 57 seconds and so in the grand scheme of the impact on the overall incident, um, we don’t believe it had any impact on patient outcomes. Uh, I will say that we’re already in touch with Waymo and and the autonomous vehicles to, uh. Yeah, to, to give them our concerns and work with them in order to try to address this moving forward. If you guys could raise your hands, please, we’ll just go here then Jamal and uh for the chief and for Agent Duran, can you, uh, explain what more you’ve learned about the possible motive? And I think it was reported that the suspect had *** *** shirt underneath the sweatshirt that showed an Iranian flag. Is there *** direct connection to the war in Iran? With the shooting here, so I think for our purposes, you know, as we’re looking at the totality of this and certainly as *** police chief and we’re coming in and we’re getting this information and we see those indicators, we see the second shirt with the Iran, the picture of the shawl on that t-shirt as well. You know, we’re thinking about events and what’s occurring in the country as well. And so in addition to the fact that this was *** huge complex scene, we’re calling in those federal partners to take *** look at that as well. And so again, the motives, all of those things, that’s what this investigation is about right now. I don’t mind. Oh sure, go ahead, go ahead. Thank you. So I’ll add on that, but first I just want to also express. Our regards for the victims, the victims’ families, those impacted by this tragic event, um, it’s not just those that were injured or killed, but obviously those that witnessed it are going to be forever impacted. So just let them know we stand with you and our thoughts are with you with regards to the question. Yes, we, um, our ultimate goal in everything we do is to determine the motive, right? We’re looking for connections that he possibly had witnesses, as the chief had mentioned, we are pouring through thousands of hours of video. We have massive amounts of both digital and physical evidence, and this is an around the clock 24 hour investigation at this point and any. Declarations on what led to that motive would be premature. We want to make sure that we have our facts 100% correct or as close to or at least we’ve tracked down every possible lead that we can because that’s what we owe to the victims, right? That’s what you guys want answers for. But more importantly, we owe that to the victims and their families to be right. So we don’t want to speculate or make any guesses at this stage of the investigation as to what that motive ultimately was. Jamal to maybe piggyback off of that, uh, are you all looking into anyone else that maybe connected with the suspect at this time that you know of, or is there anything else about the suspect you can share, Chief? Again, we will have some criminal history, some background, that type of thing on Thursday when we address the officer involved shooting, um, but as far as anyone else, that’s, that’s all part of what the investigation is currently. Given some of his interactions with your agency previously, some of the social media posts attributed to him, had your agency or any agency identified him as *** potential concern or *** threat before this? We have not at the Austin Police Department, no. No, no, he was not previously on our radar. Agent Duran, I had *** question for you yesterday. You mentioned that there was this potential nexus to terrorism that was being investigated. Can you tell us what that means in regular words and also what those, you know, what we’ve learned about that? So any act of targeted violence, which is what this was, we’re going to pursue all investigative lines, right? And that is certainly one of them, along with multiple other. Avenues of where this could go, right? It’s always very difficult to determine what’s in an individual’s mind that leads them to commit this type of violence, and so we will continue to, like I said, pour through the evidence, um, talk to witnesses, talk to friends, talk to associates that knew this person. Obviously tracking movement leading up to and on the night of the event and also going back as far back as we can trace them. That’s what the FBI does and we’re doing that in lockstep with our partners and we will continue to do that until we get that answer determine what what that ultimate motivation was. So we’ll take 2 or 3 more questions. We’re going to start in the back here and then we’ll go. Angela and thank you for either the chief or Special Agent Durant. How closely are you working with other major cities like the NYPD, the LAPD? We know New York put out *** statement saying that they saw what happened in Austin and they’re taking it seriously and has put them on high alert. Are you talking to other cities? Can you tell me *** little bit about that? Yeah, I think, um, you know, being part of the Major City Chiefs Association, those are, you know, in contact with all of those chiefs and what’s going on, and everybody better be on heightened alert. I mean, this is, um, you know, what happens across the country. We all need to be aware of and certainly as major cities, you look at best practices and you look at the way you keep people safe. That’s absolutely important and there’s probably not *** police chief across this country that’s not talking to someone. Angela and Dante, you’ll have *** final question. Um, so yesterday, 3 patients were in critical condition. Has there been any status updates on the hospitalized patients? I believe one patient, um, will be taken off life support, um, sometime today, um, and then two other patients are still critical. Can you clarify that,

Amanda Musa, Hanna Park, Holly Yan, Ed Lavandera, CNN

Early Sunday morning, just as bars along Austin’s bustling Sixth Street were winding down for the night, a barrage of gunfire tore through the popular entertainment district in the heart of Texas’ capital.A man in a large SUV rolled down his window and opened fire on bar patrons outside, Austin police said. He continued his assault by driving down the street, getting out of the SUV and “shooting at people walking by,” authorities said.By the end of the rampage, two people were dead and 14 others were injured. The suspect was also killed, police said. The two killed were Texas Tech student Ryder Harrington and Savitha Shan, 24, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference Monday. Harrington’s family said he was 19. (Police initially provided a different age.)A third person injured in the shooting – identified as 30-year-old Jorge Pederson – has died, according to the Austin Police Department. Another 13 people were injured.“We are sad to report a 3rd victim has passed away as a result of the shooting on West Sixth Street yesterday morning,” the police department said in an X post Monday.Two other patients were in critical condition, Davis said when asked about hospitalized patients. When asked to clarify the chief’s comment about life support, an official said she would look into that.While the motive for the deadly onslaught has not been confirmed, authorities are investigating whether the suspect was inspired by this weekend’s U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case said.Investigators are also digging into the man’s criminal history and his mental health records, sources said.Here’s what we know:Was Iran a factor?Austin police identified the suspect as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne in a post on X Sunday evening.The suspect was wearing a shirt with an Iranian flag design on it underneath a hoodie printed with “Property of Allah,” a law enforcement official told CNN.”Obviously, it’s still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation, but there were indicators on the subject and then his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism,” Alex Doran, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio division, said Sunday morning.A bevy of law enforcement officers arrived Sunday at a home connected to the suspect in Pflugerville, a suburb of Austin, CNN affiliate KEYE reported.Investigators hauled boxes of items from the home and examined a car in the driveway, KEYE reported.Authorities searching the home were likely investigating computers and phones to determine if the suspect read any propaganda or left any writings indicating what he intended to do, an official told CNN.Investigators were trying to identify a motive on Monday, and Austin police will rely on their federal partners to investigate whether, for instance, his clothing helped point to one, Davis said Monday.”In addition to the fact that this was a huge, complex scene, we’re calling in those federal partners to take a look at that as well,” Davis said. “Those the motives, all of those things, that’s what this investigation is about.”The suspect was not previously on the radar of Austin police or the FBI’s radar, officials at Monday’s news conference said.Who is the suspect?Diagne entered the United States on March 13, 2000, on a B‑2 tourist visa, a Department of Homeland Security official told CNN. In June 2006, he adjusted his status to lawful permanent resident based on marriage to a U.S. citizen. He was naturalized on April 5, 2013.Diagne was originally from Senegal, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN.Upon arriving in the U.S., Diagne initially settled in New York and eventually made his way to Texas, although it’s not clear when, the official said. He had multiple addresses in the Lone Star State, the official added.In 2022, he was arrested in Texas on a charge of collision with vehicle damage, a misdemeanor offense, according to the DHS official.Authorities are also reviewing past mental health encounters the suspect had while living in Texas, multiple law enforcement officials have said.CNN has reached out to the Austin Police Department and the FBI’s San Antonio division for more details.How did the shooting unfold?The violence erupted along a stretch of Sixth Street, known for its dense concentration of bars and live music venues. The vibrant corridor is a short drive from the University of Texas at Austin, which has 55,000 students.Authorities first received a call about a man shooting from a large SUV outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said.”At one point, he put his flashers on, rolled down his window, and began using a pistol, shooting out of his car windows, striking patrons of the bar that were on the patio and that were in front of the bar,” Davis said.The suspect then drove west on Sixth Street, parked his SUV and got out with a rifle, the police chief said. He then began shooting at people walking by, she said.Authorities reached the suspect in less than a minute, Davis said.”Our suspect was coming toward East Austin or East Sixth Street, officers were coming toward him, and at the intersection, he was shot and he was killed,” Davis said.Video from the scene shows law enforcement officers running toward the scene as people duck for cover. The deadly attack is among 56 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.Nathan Comeaux, a University of Texas senior, was celebrating two friends’ 21st birthdays at Buford’s when he left around 1:50 a.m. to grab some pizza from a food truck across the street, he told CNN. Shortly before 2 a.m., he heard the sound of 15 to 20 gunshots.”If either me or my friends had left a few minutes later, we would have been on the patio when the shooter was attacking Buford’s,” the 22-year-old recalled Monday.After the initial barrage of gunfire ended, “I took out my phone to capture what was going on,” Comeaux said. “I saw the suspect engage with the cops down the street from me. And then he was taken out by the police.”Comeaux said that while he had heard about the events in Iran, they were the furthest thing from his mind when he was celebrating his friends’ birthdays.”Now, it is really at the front of my mind if I go out — are there going to be further shootings, further attacks?” Comeaux openly wondered.”I might try to stay in for the next week or two. But at the same, it is my senior year. I have to enjoy it. And what terrorists want is for you to be afraid to go out and live your life.”Who are the victims?Though they released the names of Harrington and Shan on Monday, officials did not publicly identify the 14 people injured.UT Austin President Jim Davis said “members of our Longhorn family” were involved in the tragedy. “Our prayers are with the victims and all those impacted,” he said in a statement.While the shootings happened off campus, students “will see increased patrols this week across the University and in the West Campus neighborhood,” UT Austin police posted Sunday on X. “We want to make sure all Longhorns feel safe at all times.”Paramedics in the area responded quickly, according to Robert Luckritz, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services chief.”We had more than 20 EMS resources that responded to the scene. We had all critical patients off the scene within 24 minutes, and all patients off the scene within 47 minutes,” Luckritz said.Austin Mayor Kirk Watson offered his condolences to the victims and their families and praised first responders for their fearless, rapid response.”They definitely saved lives,” Watson said.Three of those hospitalized were in critical condition, officials said.Gov. Greg Abbott condemned the attack and directed the state’s Department of Public Safety to increase patrols and law enforcement personnel in the Sixth Street area on weekends.Abbott also warned the state would respond aggressively to anyone “using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans.” He ordered the Texas Military Department to activate patrols to protect communities and critical infrastructure, including energy facilities and ports.”This act of violence will not define us,” he said, “nor will it shake the resolve of Texans.”

Early Sunday morning, just as bars along Austin’s bustling Sixth Street were winding down for the night, a barrage of gunfire tore through the popular entertainment district in the heart of Texas’ capital.

A man in a large SUV rolled down his window and opened fire on bar patrons outside, Austin police said. He continued his assault by driving down the street, getting out of the SUV and “shooting at people walking by,” authorities said.

By the end of the rampage, two people were dead and 14 others were injured. The suspect was also killed, police said. The two killed were Texas Tech student Ryder Harrington and Savitha Shan, 24, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference Monday. Harrington’s family said he was 19. (Police initially provided a different age.)

A third person injured in the shooting – identified as 30-year-old Jorge Pederson – has died, according to the Austin Police Department. Another 13 people were injured.

“We are sad to report a 3rd victim has passed away as a result of the shooting on West Sixth Street yesterday morning,” the police department said in an X post Monday.

Two other patients were in critical condition, Davis said when asked about hospitalized patients. When asked to clarify the chief’s comment about life support, an official said she would look into that.

While the motive for the deadly onslaught has not been confirmed, authorities are investigating whether the suspect was inspired by this weekend’s U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case said.

Investigators are also digging into the man’s criminal history and his mental health records, sources said.

Here’s what we know:

Was Iran a factor?

Austin police identified the suspect as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne in a post on X Sunday evening.

The suspect was wearing a shirt with an Iranian flag design on it underneath a hoodie printed with “Property of Allah,” a law enforcement official told CNN.

“Obviously, it’s still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation, but there were indicators on the subject and then his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism,” Alex Doran, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio division, said Sunday morning.

A bevy of law enforcement officers arrived Sunday at a home connected to the suspect in Pflugerville, a suburb of Austin, CNN affiliate KEYE reported.

Investigators hauled boxes of items from the home and examined a car in the driveway, KEYE reported.

Authorities searching the home were likely investigating computers and phones to determine if the suspect read any propaganda or left any writings indicating what he intended to do, an official told CNN.

Investigators were trying to identify a motive on Monday, and Austin police will rely on their federal partners to investigate whether, for instance, his clothing helped point to one, Davis said Monday.

“In addition to the fact that this was a huge, complex scene, we’re calling in those federal partners to take a look at that as well,” Davis said. “Those the motives, all of those things, that’s what this investigation is about.”

The suspect was not previously on the radar of Austin police or the FBI’s radar, officials at Monday’s news conference said.

Who is the suspect?

Diagne entered the United States on March 13, 2000, on a B‑2 tourist visa, a Department of Homeland Security official told CNN. In June 2006, he adjusted his status to lawful permanent resident based on marriage to a U.S. citizen. He was naturalized on April 5, 2013.

Diagne was originally from Senegal, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Upon arriving in the U.S., Diagne initially settled in New York and eventually made his way to Texas, although it’s not clear when, the official said. He had multiple addresses in the Lone Star State, the official added.

In 2022, he was arrested in Texas on a charge of collision with vehicle damage, a misdemeanor offense, according to the DHS official.

Authorities are also reviewing past mental health encounters the suspect had while living in Texas, multiple law enforcement officials have said.

CNN has reached out to the Austin Police Department and the FBI’s San Antonio division for more details.

How did the shooting unfold?

The violence erupted along a stretch of Sixth Street, known for its dense concentration of bars and live music venues. The vibrant corridor is a short drive from the University of Texas at Austin, which has 55,000 students.

Authorities first received a call about a man shooting from a large SUV outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said.

“At one point, he put his flashers on, rolled down his window, and began using a pistol, shooting out of his car windows, striking patrons of the bar that were on the patio and that were in front of the bar,” Davis said.

The suspect then drove west on Sixth Street, parked his SUV and got out with a rifle, the police chief said. He then began shooting at people walking by, she said.

Authorities reached the suspect in less than a minute, Davis said.

“Our suspect was coming toward East Austin or East Sixth Street, officers were coming toward him, and at the intersection, he was shot and he was killed,” Davis said.

Video from the scene shows law enforcement officers running toward the scene as people duck for cover. The deadly attack is among 56 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Nathan Comeaux, a University of Texas senior, was celebrating two friends’ 21st birthdays at Buford’s when he left around 1:50 a.m. to grab some pizza from a food truck across the street, he told CNN. Shortly before 2 a.m., he heard the sound of 15 to 20 gunshots.

“If either me or my friends had left a few minutes later, we would have been on the patio when the shooter was attacking Buford’s,” the 22-year-old recalled Monday.

After the initial barrage of gunfire ended, “I took out my phone to capture what was going on,” Comeaux said. “I saw the suspect engage with the cops down the street from me. And then he was taken out by the police.”

Comeaux said that while he had heard about the events in Iran, they were the furthest thing from his mind when he was celebrating his friends’ birthdays.

“Now, it is really at the front of my mind if I go out — are there going to be further shootings, further attacks?” Comeaux openly wondered.

“I might try to stay in for the next week or two. But at the same, it is my senior year. I have to enjoy it. And what terrorists want is for you to be afraid to go out and live your life.”

Who are the victims?

Though they released the names of Harrington and Shan on Monday, officials did not publicly identify the 14 people injured.

UT Austin President Jim Davis said “members of our Longhorn family” were involved in the tragedy. “Our prayers are with the victims and all those impacted,” he said in a statement.

While the shootings happened off campus, students “will see increased patrols this week across the University and in the West Campus neighborhood,” UT Austin police posted Sunday on X. “We want to make sure all Longhorns feel safe at all times.”

Paramedics in the area responded quickly, according to Robert Luckritz, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services chief.

“We had more than 20 EMS resources that responded to the scene. We had all critical patients off the scene within 24 minutes, and all patients off the scene within 47 minutes,” Luckritz said.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson offered his condolences to the victims and their families and praised first responders for their fearless, rapid response.

“They definitely saved lives,” Watson said.

Three of those hospitalized were in critical condition, officials said.

Gov. Greg Abbott condemned the attack and directed the state’s Department of Public Safety to increase patrols and law enforcement personnel in the Sixth Street area on weekends.

Abbott also warned the state would respond aggressively to anyone “using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans.” He ordered the Texas Military Department to activate patrols to protect communities and critical infrastructure, including energy facilities and ports.

“This act of violence will not define us,” he said, “nor will it shake the resolve of Texans.”