Written By Simran Kaur, Staff Writer
As unfortunately common as shootings are, is there more to this case than expected?
At around 2:00 am on March 1st, a 911 call was made about a shooting that was taking place outside of the bar in Austin, Texas. Popularly known by University of Texas students as the Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden along sixth street. The bar was located only miles away from the University of Texas at Austin campus with alleged reports claiming that the bar’s customers, at the time, were a majority of college students that enjoyed the destination as a local hang out spot for nightlife.
The shooting had a fatality of four people, (including the suspect) and thirteen wounded, with the suspected gunman being seen driving up and down the street repeatedly throughout the night. At one point, he began shooting out of the vehicle with a pistol aiming at civilians on the street and outside of the bar. The suspect was also seen using both a pistol and a rifle, however it has not been verified whether the rifle in question was actually used.
A University of Texas student, Nathan Comeaux, who had witnessed the shooting from a nearby pizza truck reported that the suspect “parked (the car), got out with a rifle and began shooting people walking along the street before officers rushed to the intersection and shot him”. Earlier reports from Nathan claim that the majority of individuals surrounding sixth street at the time were in fact college students, the twenty two year old senior highlights that the bar was “full of college students… shoulder to shoulder, hundreds enjoying their night”.
While the press and information has not confirmed if the majority affected by the shooting were University of Texas students, it has been confirmed that two individuals that passed away were in fact enrolled at the school. Whether or not individuals impacted by this crime were from the university does not take away from the effect this has had on the Texas state and Austin community, with its growth in awareness rapidly spreading throughout the nation.
The gunman and suspect was identified by the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) as fifty-three year old Ndiaga Diagne, who was as numerous US officials emphasized, a naturalized American citizen born in Senegal. Currently at this time there has been no insight on potential motives, mental health factors, or evidence indicating premeditation regarding the execution of the crime. On the night of the shooting multiple accounts including photo evidence shows that Diagne was wearing a hoodie that displayed three words, “Property of Allah” and according to unofficial accounts a shirt with the Iranian flag. While there is no actual evidence at the moment of images of Diagne wearing this shirt, multiple witnesses have still claimed otherwise.
This has sparked numerous rumors and has caught the attention of the FBI as questioning of the possibility of terriosm was brought up after further investigation of Diagne’s vehicle, as well as undisclosed “indicators” that led them to this conclusion. Acting agent of the San Antonio’s FBI office, Alex Doran, deliberately states that “it’s still too early to make a determination on that” in regards to an official statement stating that the shooting was an act of terrioism. The nature of these rumors were taken even more seriously when White House representatives stated that the President was informed on the situation, although no comments regarding the issue were made by the President himself.
After the events that took place on the night of March first Texas officials have made multiple statements regarding the incident and have addressed these allegations of Diagne’s intentions stemming from recent conflicts with Iran as the shooting was a day after the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran, killing the Supreme Leader. Greg Abott the Texas Governor firmly emphasized that the state was not afraid to respond with aggression if individuals are attempting to “use the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texas”.
With some recent confirmation that this attack was almost certainly an isolated event by legal officials, University President of Texas Jim Davis sends his condolences and prayers to the families that were impacted by the shooting. Furthermore Comeux states that “The UT community has definitely been majorly affected by this”. The Austin, Texas community has come together since this unfortunate event, its impact touching individuals all across the state as the investigation still continues. Hopefully families and communities will get the answers they need.