Who was Ndiaga Diagne? What to Know About Suspect in Austin Mass Shooting
A chaotic mass shooting in Austin has officials rushing to figure out why a guy named by social media commentators as Ndiaga Diagne opened fire outside a popular beer garden, killing two people and injuring 14 more before being shot dead by police.
The FBI is investigating the incident as a potential terrorist attack, though police have yet to publicly confirm many facts about the alleged shooter or his motivations.
What To Know: Shooting Outside Buford’s Beer Garden Shocks Austin
On March 1, 2026, at approximately 01:58 local time, many gunshots were heard outside Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden on West Sixth Street, a nightlife hotspot near downtown Austin.
According to eyewitness statements and law enforcement briefings, a man drove a huge SUV around the block many times before coming to a stop with hazard lights on and firing a pistol and then a rifle at patio occupants and passersby.
According to Chief Lisa Davis and EMS commanders, officers responded quickly and shot an armed suspect, killing him. According to EMS Chief Robert Luckritz, first responders arrived within 57 seconds of the 1:59 a.m. call, treated 17 patients, transported 14 to hospitals, and pronounced three people dead on the site, with three in serious condition during transport.
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.