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A tragic mass shooting in Austin has prompted authorities to urgently investigate the actions of an individual identified by social media users as Ndiaga Diagne, who opened fire outside a well-known beer garden. The attack resulted in two fatalities and left 14 others injured before police intervened, fatally shooting the gunman.
The FBI is currently examining the case as a possible terrorist act; however, law enforcement has not yet disclosed comprehensive details about the suspect or his motives.
What To Know: Shooting Outside Buford’s Beer Garden Shocks Austin
The incident occurred on March 1, 2026, at around 01:58 local time, when a series of gunshots rang out near Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden on West Sixth Street, a bustling nightlife district close to downtown Austin.
Witnesses and law enforcement reports indicate that the shooter circled the block multiple times in a large SUV before stopping, activating the hazard lights, and proceeding to fire a handgun followed by a rifle at patrons on the patio and nearby pedestrians.
Chief Lisa Davis, along with EMS officials, reported that officers swiftly responded to the scene, engaging and fatally shooting the armed suspect. EMS Chief Robert Luckritz noted that emergency services arrived within 57 seconds of the 1:59 a.m. alert, providing care to 17 individuals, transporting 14 to hospitals, and confirming three fatalities at the scene, with three others in critical condition during transportation.
Who Was Ndiaga Diagne?
According to law enforcement authorities, the suspected shooter is Ndiaga Diagne, a 53-year-old Senegalese-born naturalised US citizen. Diagne spent a few months in New York in the early 2000s and had a criminal record, which included unauthorised vending in 2001.
In 2013 and 2016, he became a US citizen and an asylum seeker, respectively. Diagne circled Buford numerous times with a huge SUV before blasting through the driver’s window.
Is Terrorism Suspected?
Alex Doran, the acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio office, stated that his team worked “in lockstep” with APD and sent evidence response and digital forensics professionals to the scene. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the attack as possible terrorism because “indicators” were discovered on the shooter and his vehicle.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is also investigating. Alex Doran, the agent in charge of the FBI’s Austin office, stated that there were “indicators” that the shooting was a terrorist incident. However, Doran stated that it was still “too early to decide on that.”
According to individuals acquainted with the FBI’s combined Terrorism Task Force investigation, the shooter may have been motivated by the murder of Iran’s late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, in a US-Israeli combined strike on the country on Saturday.