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

Originally Published: 02 MAR 26 04:00 ET

Updated: 02 MAR 26 16:21 ET

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

(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, 21, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference Monday. Harrington’s family said he was 19. (Police initially provided different ages.)

One patient is expected to be taken off life support Monday, and 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 US 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.

Investigators are looking for connections and interviewing witnesses, Alex Doran, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio division, said at a news conference Monday. Agents are also reviewing “thousands of hours of video,” according to Doran.

The investigation also involves sorting through a high volume of both digital and physical evidence, so “we don’t want to speculate or make any guesses at this stage of the investigation as to what that motive ultimately was,” he said.

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, Davis said. After the initial scene was secured, police called federal officials to “address concerns of potential terrorism,” the chief said. Austin police will also rely on their federal partners to investigate whether, for instance, his clothing helped point to a motive, 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. “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, 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 US citizen. He naturalized on April 5, 2013.

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

Upon arriving in the US, Diagne initially settled in New York and eventually made his way to Texas, although it’s not clear when, the official said. He hadmultiple 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, 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,” Davissaid.

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 US 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.”

Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden expressed its condolences to the victims of the shooting in a statement on Instagram Monday. “These were young people with their whole lives ahead of them, and our thoughts and prayers are with every family impacted,” the bar said.

Who are the victims?

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

Ryder Harrington’s older brother, Reed Harrington, remembered him in a post on Facebook Monday as “the best mix” of the family’s siblings.

“Watching the man he had become, and seeing all the lives he touched, leaves me certain that this world was robbed of a great future,” she said in the post, with photos of her brother.

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.

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.”

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