Austin 6th Street shooting: APD officers who fired weapons will not be charged, DA says

AUSTIN, Texas - The Travis County District Attorney's Office has formally ended the review of the Austin police officers who fired their weapons at the gunman during the mass shooting at a west 6th Street bar early Sunday morning. 

Three people, including the gunman, were killed, and 14 others were wounded at Buford's on Sunday. Another victim died on Monday after being taken off life support.

What we know:

Travis County DA Jose Garza released the following statement below:

"These officers are heroes, and it should go without saying that my office is not seeking any charges and would not seek charges. The accounts to the contrary are false, intentionally false, and are being peddled for obvious political purposes. 

We are proud to work with our partners at the Austin Police Department every day and are so grateful for the bravery that these officers showed.

We also grieve with our community members who lost loved ones during this horrendous act of violence and are disgusted by the leaders in Texas using their deaths to score political points."

This statement comes after Gov. Greg Abbott posted on social media on March 3. 

What's next:

On Thursday, March 5, the Austin Police Department is expected to release body camera footage and other materials at a press conference regarding the deadly mass shooting.

"The Department continues to demonstrate its commitment to transparency with a focus on building trust within our community through information sharing," APD said in the release.

Deadly Austin 6th Street shooting

On Sunday, three people, including the gunman, were killed, and 14 others were wounded in a mass shooting outside a bar in Austin's bustling Sixth Street entertainment district. Authorities said the shooting may have ties to terrorism.

It began with a call to police around 1:40 a.m. about a man shooting at Buford's. When police arrived at the scene, they confronted a man with a gun and "returned fire, killing the suspect," said Austin police chief Lisa Davis Sunday.

The gunman has been identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, a naturalized US citizen born in Senegal who lived in Pflugerville. He was reportedly caught in images wearing a sweatshirt that read "Property of Allah" and had been wearing a T-shirt underneath with an Iranian flag on it.

RELATED COVERAGE

• Austin 6th Street shooting: What we know about gunman seen wearing 'Property of Allah' shirt
• Austin 6th Street shooting: Witness recalls gunfire, chaotic scene
• Texas leaders react to deadly Austin mass shooting leaving 3 dead, 14 injured
• Austin 6th Street shooting: Community urged to donate blood

Davis said that the gunman had two weapons during the shooting, but never entered the bar; instead he drove by, fired outside the window with a pistol, then parked his vehicle nearby and got out with a rifle.

Davis said an explosives team was called in to evaluate the gunman's vehicle after investigators found concerning items inside. No bombs were found, however.

Davis added during a Monday press conference that the guns used in the shooting were legally purchased in 2017. The gunman was also not on APD or the FBI's radar, according to law enforcement.

Davis and the FBI say that it is still in the early hours of the investigation and that authorities are pouring over massive amounts of physical and digital evidence.

"We are pouring through thousands of hours of video. We have massive amounts of both digital and physical evidence. And this is an around-the-clock 24-hour investigation at this point. And any declarations on what led to that motive would be premature," said Alex Doran, FBI acting special agent in charge.