{"id":195197,"date":"2026-03-07T23:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T23:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/195197\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T23:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T23:38:07","slug":"as-bufords-reopens-customers-say-theyre-not-going-to-be-afraid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/195197\/","title":{"rendered":"As Buford’s reopens, customers say they’re ‘not going to be afraid’"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Buford’s first night open since three people were killed<\/a> and over a dozen others were injured in a shooting, owner Bob Woody sat outside the bar to thank people for coming in. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no rulebook on how to do this,\u201d he said Friday. \u201cBut you got to do things to help. You\u2019ve got to stand up.\u201d <\/p>\n

Woody said his employees spent several days reflecting together and made the decision to reopen as a team. At an all-staff meeting, he asked everyone who wanted to reopen to raise their hands. He said everyone but one staffer agreed.<\/p>\n

\"Patrons<\/p>\n

Lorianne Willett<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KUT News<\/p>\n

The owner of Buford\u2019s said he would donate 100% of sales on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to victims and their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had one that wasn\u2019t ready, and that\u2019s OK,” he said. “She\u2019s gonna come back.” <\/p>\n

Buford\u2019s is donating 100% of its sales Friday, Saturday and Sunday to victims and families affected by the shooting. Early into the night Friday, Woody said he had already raised $10,000. <\/p>\n

The decision to reopen just a week after the shooting was controversial. On Instagram<\/a>, people said it was insensitive and too soon. <\/p>\n

One commenter wrote: “Someone underage got killed at this establishment, and you think it’s appropriate and respectful to open back up a less than a week later …?” <\/p>\n

But inside the bar, people were eager to return to a sense of normalcy.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Lorianne Willett<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KUT News<\/p>\n

Buford\u2019s owner Bob Woody sits outside and greets patrons as they enter the bar Friday.<\/p>\n

Sage Casey said he showed up at Buford\u2019s \u2014 for what might have been his 300th time \u2014 to support the victims and staff. Casey grew up in Boston and said he was “very near” the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as they cleared up what had happened, everybody showed back up to show that you … don\u2019t allow those things to make you afraid of going to your favorite places on earth,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel that it’s very important for us to be here tonight to show that this is our place, and we’re not going to be afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woody said he coordinated with the city to add an increased police presence on the streets surrounding the bar and to ensure Rio Grande would be closed to through traffic indefinitely from Sixth Street to the alleyway from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. He said he’s also working on installing protective glass along the beer garden.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow<\/p>\n

Lorianne Willett<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KUT News<\/p>\n

Yellow ribbon hangs from trees outside Buford\u2019s to honor the victims of a shooting early Sunday. <\/p>\n

Police say<\/a> Ndiaga Diagne, 53, parked in front of Buford\u2019s early last Sunday, rolled down his window and opened fire with a semiautomatic handgun at patrons standing outside. According to investigators, he then got out of his car and shot a pedestrian with an AR-15-style rifle, before being shot and killed by police. <\/p>\n

The shooting claimed the lives <\/a>of UT student Savitha Shan, former Texas Tech University student Ryder Harrington and Jorge Pederson, who had moved to Austin just two weeks earlier. More than a dozen others were injured and two people are still in the hospital, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said Thursday. One victim, 21-year-old UT student Rudy Garza<\/a>, is in critical condition. <\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Lorianne Willett<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

KUT News<\/p>\n

People stop to look at flyers with information on the shooting victims outside Buford\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Davis said APD had \u201cno contacts\u201d with Diagne<\/a>, but Bexar County court documents reveal a judge found he had a \u201chistory or pattern of committing family violence\u201d in his second marriage. The findings failed to trigger criminal penalties or gun restrictions; Diagne legally owned both weapons used in the shooting. This week, a Buda woman filed a lawsuit<\/a> accusing Diagne of assaulting her at the Tesla Gigafactory.<\/p>\n

Dan Weinstock, who considers himself a Sixth Street regular, said he showed up Friday to support the staff. He said if the bar closed or people stopped going, it would “compound the tragedy” of the shooting. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s really important to come back and support them after such a traumatic event, and not to bring it up \u2026 not to ask them what that night was like for them, but just to be like a comforting, familiar face,\u201d he said. \u201cYou saw me before this happened, and you’re seeing me again now. I’m not scared to come back here.\u201d<\/p>\n