Police body camera video released Thursday captures the chaotic scene as a gunman opened fire outside an Austin, Texas bar, killing three people and wounding 19 others. Officers responded within 56 seconds and fatally shot the suspect, with the FBI now investigating the incident as potential terrorism.
AUSTIN, Texas — Police body camera recordings released Thursday reveal the chaos that erupted when a gunman opened fire outside an Austin bar, resulting in three deaths in what federal authorities are examining as a possible terrorist attack.
“Everybody down!” one officer yells. “Where is he?”
The frightening scenes documented by officer cameras and security surveillance equipment illustrate how rapidly the violence unfolded early Sunday morning in Austin’s downtown nightlife area, injuring more than a dozen people.
According to Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis, law enforcement reached the scene just 56 seconds after receiving the initial emergency call, ultimately shooting and killing the attacker when he opened fire on police.
Davis indicated the investigation continues and declined to speculate about what motivated the shooting, which occurred one day following joint U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iran.
Federal investigators are treating the incident as a potential terrorist act, with a law enforcement source telling The Associated Press that the shooter wore clothing featuring an Iranian flag pattern and text reading “Property of Allah.”
Authorities have named the shooter as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, who lawfully purchased both the handgun and rifle used in the assault near Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden. The establishment sits on Sixth Street, a popular entertainment strip packed with drinking establishments and music venues near the University of Texas at Austin campus.
Officials now confirm 19 individuals sustained gunshot wounds, including the three fatalities, Davis announced Thursday. One victim remains hospitalized in critical condition.
The majority of shooting victims were located outside the establishment, including one person who had been waiting for transportation, according to Davis.
Emergency call recordings released Thursday capture screams and commands to “get down.” “There has been a shooting at Buford’s,” one caller said. “There are people dead over here. We need help right now.”
Diagne had not previously attracted law enforcement attention before beginning his attack early Sunday. Davis revealed investigators discovered he had been the subject of a mental health welfare check, possibly in 2022, conducted by another agency in a different location.
The gunman initially fired from inside his SUV before parking and exiting with a rifle, according to police. He shot another individual before responding officers arrived at the intersection and fatally wounded him, Davis explained.
Jorge Pederson, 30, an aspiring mixed martial arts competitor, succumbed to his injuries Monday. The recent Texas transplant from Minnesota was remembered by his former training facility, the Academy Martial Arts Gym, in a Facebook tribute noting he brought “light and joy into the grueling work of training.”
The other victims were identified as 21-year-old Savitha Shan and 19-year-old Ryder Harrington.
Shan, who studied business at the University of Texas at Austin, had secured employment with a consulting company, her family revealed in a university-issued statement. They described her as an only child and called her death “profoundly unfair.”
Harrington had been enrolled at Texas Tech University until last fall, with his former Beta Theta Pi fraternity brothers honoring him in an Instagram memorial that praised his talent for making “ordinary days unforgettable.”