A Senegalese national who opened fire outside an Austin bar early Sunday, killing two people and wounding 14 others, had an Iranian flag and pictures of Iranian leaders inside his home, sources with direct knowledge told CBS News. The items were discovered after a search warrant was executed at the residence of Ndiaga Diagne, 53, who was shot dead by Austin police officers at the scene.
According to Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis, Diagne stopped his SUV in front of Buford's Backyard Beer Garden around 2 a.m. and began shooting out his front window with a pistol, striking patrons on the front patio. It was closing time. He then parked his car, got out and began shooting at people walking by on the street with an assault rifle, Chief Davis said.
Police confronted Diagne within less than a minute of the first gunshot and took him down at an intersection on 6th Street. Two people and the shooter died at the scene. First responders rushed 14 other patients to nearby hospitals, three of whom were last reported in critical condition.
Footage captured the moment gunshots rang out along the busy street.
Diagne arrived at the bar wearing a "Property of Allah" shirt. The New York Post previously revealed that a Quran was found in Diagne's car and that he was also wearing an undershirt with the Iranian flag or other Iranian symbols.
After the shooting, a search warrant executed at his home turned up the Iranian flag and pictures of Iranian leaders, according to sources with direct knowledge who spoke to CBS News. FBI Special Agent Alex Doran told reporters on Sunday that while authorities are working to determine the exact motivation, the evidence trail is suggestive.
Indicators on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism.
Officials have said Diagne may have been motivated by the joint attack by Israel and the US, though that claim has not been tied to a specific named official or elaborated upon in detail. Investigators have not publicly confirmed a definitive motive.
Diagne, a former New York City resident, arrived in the US on March 13, 2000, on a tourist visa. He became a lawful permanent resident when he married a US citizen in June 2006. He then became a naturalized US citizen on April 5, 2013, despite several arrests. The nature, dates, and jurisdictions of those arrests have not been publicly detailed.
Sources said Diagne was known to authorities as an emotionally disturbed person in both New York and Texas before Sunday's shooting.
The FBI and Austin police face a series of urgent investigative requirements. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether Diagne had any operational ties to a foreign government or terror network, or whether the Iranian materials in his home and on his person reflect ideological sympathy, direct coordination, or something else entirely. Investigators will need to determine the full scope of his prior arrests, what red flags those encounters produced, and whether any agency had actionable intelligence before Sunday.
The identities of the two people who died have not been publicly released. The specific Iranian leaders depicted in the photographs found at Diagne's home have not been identified in public statements. The issuing authority and full inventory of the search warrant have not been disclosed.
A naturalized citizen, known to authorities in two states as emotionally disturbed, with several prior arrests on his record, walked up to an Austin bar with a pistol and an assault rifle and started killing people. Every system designed to flag that threat before it materialized will now face scrutiny, and it should.
