Police in Austin, Texas, have released surveillance video, police body camera footage, police radio traffic and harrowing recordings of 911 calls from the early morning hours of the deadly mass shooting in the city’s popular Sixth Street entertainment district.
The footage portrays the chaotic scene as bars closed Sunday on the crowded street.
“There’s people shot. We need help right now,” a 911 caller said.
Video showed the suspect walking with what Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis called an AR-15 rifle, during the news conference Thursday afternoon.
The release comes as authorities continue to investigate whether the gunman, identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, was inspired by last weekend’s strikes on Iran by the US and Israel, when he opened fire first from his SUV and then on foot, killing three people and injuring more than a dozen others as bars were closing early Sunday morning.
Ryder Harrington, 19, Savitha Shan, 21, and Jorge Pederson, 30, were killed in the attack.
In an update, authorities now say 19 people were struck by gunfire during the shooting. Two people remain in area hospitals, with one in critical condition, Davis said.
Diagne was fatally shot by police. A Senegalese immigrant turned US citizen, he was not on the radar of local police or the FBI before the attack, officials previously said.
“His only interaction with law enforcement was in 2022 and that was a ‘check welfare’ and an outside agency,” Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said Thursday. “This call was reference: his mental health.”
While the motive has not been confirmed, investigators are examining the suspect’s clothing, which included a shirt with an Iranian flag design and a hoodie printed with “Property of Allah,” along with his criminal history and mental health records as they work to determine what drove the deadliest mass shooting in Austin in recent years.
This is a developing story and will be updated.