Newly released video reveals panic and chaos during Austin mass shooting as investigation into terror link continues
By Chris Boyette, Alaa Elassar, CNN
(CNN) — 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.
Warning: this video contains disturbing images.
The chief characterized the video as “difficult to hear” and “difficult to see.”
People were seen running haphazardly as the suspect appeared to fire along the popular intersection. Police body camera footage showed officers rushing toward the gunman, where a volley of shots was exchanged, ending with the suspect on the ground.
“As additional officers arrived, they were directed to the suspect’s location by brave people that were caught in this nightmare,” Davis said.
Warning: this video contains disturbing images.
The release of materials 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.
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, including the gunman, during the shooting. Two people remain in area hospitals, with one in critical condition, Davis said.
“I don’t think any of us can imagine what these families are going through right now, the suffering that they are dealing with,” the chief said. “Our hearts are with them.”
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,” 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.
Investigators are also actively examining whether the attack may have a terrorism link and are working in close coordination with the FBI, Davis said, though officials “are not ready to talk about exactly what that nexus is.” Authorities are reviewing digital evidence and have conducted two search warrants, she added.
“From that early on … calling in the FBI was the right thing to do, and you talk about a scene of that gravity and then the potential for terrorism, that had to be investigated and it is,” the chief said.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant for at least one home connected to Diagne in Pflugerville, Texas, a suburb just north of Austin. Investigators were likely looking for evidence such as writings, online activity, or propaganda that might shed light on whether the suspect planned the attack or was influenced by extremist material, an official previously told CNN.
CNN’s Caroll Alvarado, Taylor Galgano and Jeremy Grisham contributed to this report.
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