On March 1, 2026, a mass shooting occurred on West Sixth Street when 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne fired into Buford's Backyard Beer Garden, a bar located in the downtown of Austin, Texas, United States, at people inside and at people in the surrounding area. Diagne killed three people and injured thirteen others before he was fatally shot by police. The shooting is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism related to the conflict between the United States and Israel against Iran and its proxies. == Shooting == At around 1:58 a.m., the gunman allegedly drove a Cadillac Escalade past the Buford's Backyard Beer Garden bar on West Sixth Street several times before stopping, turning on the hazard lights and opening fire on people at a patio and in front of the bar with a pistol out the window of his vehicle. He then parked near Wood Street, got out of his vehicle and began shooting at people in the area with the pistol and a rifle. The first 911 call was made at 1:59 a.m. Officers who were stationed nearby responded a minute later and fatally shot him. The gunman only shot from outside the bar. == Victims == Three people were killed by the shooter, and 13 others were injured, including two critically. The deceased victims were identified as 19-year-old former Texas Tech University student Ryder Harrington, 30-year-old Minnesotan mixed martial arts fighter Jorge Pederson, and 21-year-old UT Austin student Savitha Shan. Pederson was taken off life support a day after the shooting. == Perpetrator == Police identified the shooter as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne (c. 1972-1973 – March 1, 2026), a Pflugerville, Texas resident and a naturalized US citizen who had originally immigrated from Senegal. Diagne had also previously lived in The Bronx, where he had been previously arrested by the New York Police Department for illegal vending, and in the northeast side of San Antonio for several years. Diagne was reportedly wearing a sweatshirt that read "Property of Allah" with an undershirt of an Islamic Republic Iranian flag. He had a Quran in his vehicle. Officials confirmed that Diagne came to the United States on a tourist visa on March 13, 2000, got a green card in June 2006, and obtained US citizenship in 2013. Both law enforcement and a Texas District Court judge confirmed that Diagne had a history of mental health conditions and a history or pattern of committing domestic violence. The judge told KXAS-TV that Diagne's ex-wife filed for divorce while residing in Bexar County in September 2022 after ten years and six months of marriage after she alleged in a petition that her husband was "guilty of cruel treatment towards Petitioner of a nature that renders living together insupportable". Online records confirmed that Diagne had been both married and divorced twice. He was first married in the Bronx from December 30, 2005, until his first divorce in 2008, and was married again in Manhattan from March 2012 until their second September 2022 divorce. Law enforcement records confirm that Diagne had an extensive criminal history dating back to his first arrest for illegal vending on June 29, 2001, in Manhattan. Nearly fifteen years later, Diagne was accused of critically injuring a woman in Brooklyn after purposely running her over with a company car, which was owned by Hurricane Management Corporation (HMC), on Flatbush Avenue on January 30, 2016. The suit that was filed on May 25, 2017, said that Diagne and HMC were "negligent, careless, reckless, grossly negligent in the ownership, operation, management, maintenance, repair, inspection and control" of the vehicle involved in the incident. That same year, Diagne moved to Texas. == Aftermath == A Waymo driverless taxi blocked an ambulance from responding to the shooting by getting stuck blocking both lanes of traffic. The ambulance eventually backed out from the road, and afterwards the Waymo taxi pulled into a parking garage. The company declined to offer a statement about the incident. == Investigation == The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the attack as possible terrorism due to "indicators" being found on the shooter and his vehicle. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also investigating. President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting. Officials executed a search warrant at Ndiaga Diagne's house and found an Islamic Republic Iranian flag and pictures of Iranian leaders. The FBI said that Diagne was not on their radar as a potential threat before the shooting, and a spokesperson for the FBI's San Antonio office said that the agency's "ultimate goal" was to "determine the motive". The spokesperson also said that the weapons used in the attack had been legally purchased in San Antonio several years prior to the attack. Texas governor Greg Abbott said that FBI agents were working in conjunction with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to determine if Diagne acted alone or if he had connections to a terrorist group. == Reactions == Texas senator Ted Cruz spoke about the shooting during an interview with Margaret Brennan on Fox News' Face the Nation and said that he and his wife, Heidi, were "praying for those who were wounded and the families of those who were killed". Senator John Cornyn said that it was "a shock that something like this could happen in Austin, Texas, just literally blocks away from where I live" and that "the fact that somebody came to this country, was given a green card and became radicalized at some point, unfortunately, is a story we’ve heard before". Representatives Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett, who both represent parts of the city of Austin, both made calls for gun control legislation to be passed in the House of Representatives following the shooting. Casar said that he was "horrified and heartbroken" by the shooting and that "we must end America’s gun violence epidemic", and pledged to "redouble my efforts in Congress to prevent the next tragedy like this". Doggett said that he and his wife were "mourning and praying" for the victims and that gun violence was preventable and that "until Republicans find the courage to say no to the NRA, our country will be plagued with more tragedies". Representative Chip Roy, who is running for the Republican nomination for Texas attorney general, posted unconfirmed details about the shooter's immigration to the United States and subsequent naturalization, writing that the shooter had been given residency during the presidency of George W. Bush "amid GOP celebration of the joys of ‘melting pot’ legal immigration" and called for the immediate pause of all immigration to the United States. Texas governor Greg Abbott released a statement offering his condolences to the victims and said that he was in contact with Austin's mayor, Kirk Watson, and the director of the DPS, Freeman Martin, concerning the incident. Abbott pledged "full support of the State of Texas" in response to the shooting. Abbott ordered the Texas Military Department to activate service members to protect communities and critical infrastructure from potential future attacks and directed the DPS and Texas National Guard to increase their patrols and surveillance activities. Abbott said that the mobilization was necessary to protect against any potential future attacks "as long as this war is going on". Watson praised the response of police officers to the shooting, stating that he was "very thankful for the speed with which our officials responded to this" and that "I don’t think there’s any question: It saved lives". City council member Zohaib Qadri, whose district includes downtown, said that he was "deeply shaken and heartbroken" and was in contact with investigators. Representative James Talarico, who is running for the Democratic nomination for Senate, argued with Abbott on X about the response to and cause of the shooting, with Abbott writing to Talarico, that "allowing unvetted immigrants who are hostile to America, who are loyal to our adversaries like Iran, must end" and wrote that it "was an act of terror, James" and went on to criticize Talarico's immigration policies. Talarico responded to Abbott, writing, "dangerous people should not be allowed into the country. Dangerous people should not be allowed to get guns. Texans understand this — you apparently don’t". Speculation and backlash about potential charges against the officers who shot the shooter began after an attorney for the Austin Police Association (APA) posted on social media that he would represent the officers in the Travis County District Attorney's office usual grand jury review process for officer-involved shootings. The president of APA, Michael Bullock, said that the officer's situation was "an extraordinary circumstance" and that the "officers have been through enough, and anything can happen in a grand jury". Abbott released a statement on X in response to the speculation which said that "these police officers are heroes who saved lives" and that he would "have the final say in the fate of these police officers". The backlash prompted Travis County attorney general José Garza to respond to the claims that he intended to have the officers face a grand jury in a statement, which stated, "these officers are heroes, and it should go without saying that my office is not seeking any charges and would not seek charges" and that speculation about potential charges against the officers by his office were "intentionally false". Garza expressed his condolences to the victims and said that his office was "grateful for the bravery that these officers showed", and that his office was "disgusted by the leaders in Texas using their deaths to score political points". A day after the shooting, the Beta Theta Pi fraternity of Texas Tech University, where victim Ryder Harrington studied at until fall 2025 and pledged to the fraternity in 2024, held a vigil for Harrington. On March 3, a vigil organized by Students Demand Action was held at the University of Texas at Austin, where victim Savitha Shan studied, to honor the victims of the shooting. == See also == Attacks abroad during the 2026 Iran conflict Crime in Texas List of mass shootings in the United States List of shootings in Texas == References ==