CNN
By Chris Boyette, Karina Tsui, John Miller, Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — Investigators are working to determine whether the suspect in a deadly mass shooting in Austin, Texas, was motivated by Saturday’s attack on Iran by the US and Israel, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case said, cautioning that it’s too early to draw any conclusions.
Two people were killed and 14 others wounded in the shooting, which sent revellers running for cover in Austin’s busy entertainment district early Sunday before the suspect was fatally shot by police.
Later Sunday, the Austin Police Department identified the suspected gunman as Ndiaga Diagne, offering no additional information.
Diagne was wearing a hoodie reading “Property of Allah” and a shirt with an Iranian flag design underneath, a law enforcement official briefed on the case told CNN.
Three of those hospitalized are in critical condition, officials said.
“Obviously, it’s still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation, but there were indicators on the subject and then his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism,” Alex Doran, acting special agent in charge of the FBI San Antonio Division, said at a news conference Sunday morning.
Diagne was a 53-year-old United States citizen originally from Senegal, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation. He appears to have arrived in the US in the early 2000s and initially settled in New York, the official told CNN. Diagne became a US citizen in 2013, the official said.
It’s not clear when the suspect arrived in Texas, but he did have multiple addresses in the state, the official added.
Authorities have searched the man’s home, the official said. They want to search his computers and phones to determine whether he was reading any propaganda or left any writings indicating what he intended to do.
Authorities are also reviewing past mental health encounters the suspect had while living in Texas, multiple law enforcement officials said.
The suspect had both a pistol and an assault rifle in his possession at the time of the shooting, a spokesperson for the FBI’s San Antonio office told CNN on Sunday.
There have been at least 56 mass shootings in the US so far this year – defined as when at least four people are shot, not including the shooter – according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Authorities first received a call about a man shooting from a large SUV, outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden at West Sixth and Rio Grande streets, according to Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis. The intersection sits along a stretch of Sixth Street known for its dense concentration of bars and live music clubs that is a short drive from the University of Texas at Austin.
The SUV had been spotted circling the block before the shooting, she said.
“At one point, he p