Texas authorities identify Austin bar shooting victims

BBC:

Authorities have identified the two people fatally shot outside a bar in Austin, Texas when a gunman opened fire in the early hours of Sunday.

Ryder Harrington, 19, and Savitha Shan, 21, died in the shooting outside a beer garden popular with University of Texas students, police said. Of the more than a dozen others injured in the shooting,two were still in critical condition.

Officials said the two victims were students but could not yet confirm which university they attended.

The alleged gunman, Ndiaga Diagne, was shot and killed by police. The FBI said it was looking into a potential “nexus of terrorism” link to the war in Iran, among other possibilities.

After responding to calls of an active shooter at around 02:00 local time (08:00 GMT) on Sunday near Buford’s bar in Austin, police said they shot and killed the suspect.

Diagne was a naturalised American citizen born in Senegal, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

“We recognise that this is a very traumatic moment in our city,” Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said in briefing on Monday, adding: “I cannot imagine the grief, pain and loss these families are feeling today, and my heart is with them.”

Two sources familiar with the investigation told CBS News that the gunman was wearing a sweatshirt with the words “Property of Allah”.

CBS was also told by an official with knowledge of the investigation that officers who searched the gunman’s home found an Iranian flag and pictures of Iranian leaders.

The attack came on the weekend that the US and its ally Israel launched multiple strikes on Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said federal and state officials would investigate whether the violence had any connections to terrorism.

“We will not rest until every last trail or piece of information is pursued to determine if there’s anybody else involved in this whatsoever,” the governor said in a news briefing on Monday.

“And if so, obviously, we will track them down, find them, and bring them to justice.”