Austin shooting suspect is being investigated for possible terror motive. Who was he?

Austin Police identified the West Sixth Street shooting suspect as Ndiaga Diagne. (Credit: Austin Police Department via CNN Newsource)

As a large SUV rolled past a block of Austin’s lively bars and late-night crowds in Sunday’s early hours, a sweatshirted arm reached out the driver’s side window with a pistol and began to pull the trigger.

Over the course of just one minute, the gunman sailed down the city’s bustling Sixth Street and then exited his car, firing off even more bullets, ultimately killing three people and injuring 13 others before he was fatally shot by police.

The suspect, 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, was wearing a hoodie emblazoned with the words “Property of Allah,” a picture obtained by CNN shows. Law enforcement later found Diagne - who was fatally shot by police - was wearing a T-shirt stamped with an Iranian flag design, according to a source.

Though investigators have kept details close to the vest, they are probing whether the Texas shooting was inspired by this weekend’s strikes on Iran by the US and Israel, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case said.

Diagne, a Senegalese immigrant-turned U.S. citizen, was not on the radar of local police nor the FBI before Sunday’s attack, officials said at a Monday news conference. Now, his personal life, criminal history and private affiliations are under extreme scrutiny as investigators dissect his motive.

READ MORE: FBI probes Texas bar shooting that killed 2 and wounded 14 as possible terrorist act

Making a life in the U.S.

Diagne made his way to the United States from his home country of Senegal, initially settling in New York before moving to Texas, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Diagne entered the U.S. on March 13, 2000, on a B‑2 tourist visa, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official told CNN. These nonimmigrant visas are intended for visitors traveling to the U.S. temporarily, such as for vacation or visiting family.

Diagne married a U.S. citizen, allowing him to adjust his status to lawful permanent resident in June 2006, the DHS official said. He became a naturalized citizen on April 5, 2013.

CNN has been unable to confirm the identity of Diagne’s wife or whether they are still married.

Though it is unclear when Diagne relocated to Texas, public records indicate he was still a resident of Bronx, New York, in the late 2010s. Since moving to the Lone Star State, he has had multiple addresses, the law enforcement official told CNN.

READ MORE: Gunman who opened fire on crowded Texas bar was not on FBI radar before attack, authorities say

‘A potential nexus to terrorism’

Diagne’s motive is still unclear, but items discovered during the investigation have led authorities to consider whether the attack was an act of domestic terrorism or motivated by the nascent U.S. war with Iran, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case have 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’s San Antonio division, said Sunday morning.

After police secured the sprawling, chaotic scene Sunday, federal partners were called to “address concerns of potential terrorism,” Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said.

A search warrant has been executed on at least one residence connected to the suspect. A bevy of law enforcement, some from federal agencies, gathered at a home connected to Diagne in Pflugerville, a suburb just north of Austin.

Investigators hauled boxes of items from the home and examined a car in the driveway, CNN affiliate KEYE reported. A Quran was also found in the suspect’s car, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.

Authorities searching the home were likely looking for computers and phones to determine if the suspect read any propaganda or left any writings indicating his plans, an official told CNN.

They will also review whether Diagne had any mental health encounters while living in Texas, multiple law enforcement officials have said.

Small run-ins with the law

Diagne was not well-known to local or federal investigators before Sunday’s attack, but public records show he has had minor interactions with police and the courts in New York and Texas.

Both guns the suspect used in the shooting were acquired legally in San Antonio in 2017, Davis said.

In 2022, Diagne was arrested in Texas on a charge of collision with vehicle damage, a misdemeanor offense, according to the DHS official.

He was also sued in New York in May 2017 by a woman who claimed he hit her with a car while she was walking. In an initial complaint, the woman claimed she sustained “serious injuries.”

It appears Diagne was driving a vehicle leased by a company that provides vehicles to cab drivers and other for-hire services.

An orthopedic surgeon attested to the court the woman was hospitalized after the incident and later underwent a spinal procedure. But the surgeon wrote in 2022 the woman’s injuries had “fully resolved,” court documents show. It is unclear how the case was resolved.

As part of their investigation into the officer-involved shooting that killed Diagne, police plan to release body camera footage and more details on Diagne’s criminal history as soon as Thursday, the chief said.