Authorities are investigating whether a shooting in Texas that killed three and left 14 injured as a potential act of terrorism was motivated by US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
The gunman, who was shot and killed by the police, was wearing a jumper which read “Property of Allah” and a shirt with an Iranian flag design when he opened fire at a bar in Austin’s entertainment district just before 2am local time on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
The gunman was identified as Ndiaga Diagne, 53, a naturalised US citizen originally from Senegal. He first entered the US in 2000 on a tourist visa, married a US citizen six years later and secured citizenship in 2013, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
• Iran latest: follow live coverage
Authorities have yet to confirm any connection between the attack and the ongoing operation in Iran, which began one day before the shooting. However, Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, said the state “will not be terrorised”.
“To anyone who thinks about using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans or our critical infrastructure, understand this clearly: Texas will respond with decisive and overwhelming force to protect our state,” he said.
The FBI said it was looking at the attack as “a potential matter of terrorism” but would not say if it was domestic or foreign in nature.
“There were indicators on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism,” Alex Doran, an acting FBI special agent, told a news conference, adding that it was “still too early to make a determination on that”.
• Sign up for The Times’s weekly US newsletter
The first 911 call was received at about 1.58am, Davis said, reporting a shooting at the popular Buford’s backyard beer garden and surrounding streets.
Preliminary evidence showed a suspect circling the streets in an SUV before opening fire. “At one point, he put his flashers on, pulled 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 out in front of the bar,” she said.
The suspect then parked the car and exited with a rifle, shooting passers-by before encountering officers, who fatally shot him.
Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas, said that “we don’t know for sure” if the attack was connected to terrorism. “We need to follow the evidence and see in particular what motivated the shooting,” he told CBS News.
Three of the 14 people transported to the hospital are in critical condition, emergency medical officials said.
Emergency responders were praised for the speed of their arrival. “We received the call at 1.59am, and within 57 seconds the first paramedics and officers were on scene actively treating the patients,” Robert Luckritz, chief of the county’s emergency medical services, said.