Austin 6th Street shooting: New information released by APD

AUSTIN, Texas - The Austin Police Department is releasing new information and material about the deadly mass shooting in downtown Austin on March 1.

APD is holding a news conference at Austin Police Headquarters that is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. (CT).

The backstory:

6th Street shooting: Victims identified

Austin police have identified the two people killed in Sunday's shooting at a 6th Street bar.

On March 1, 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.

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.

The victims have been identified as 21-year-old Savitha Shan, 19-year-old Ryder Harrington, and 30-year-old Jorge Pederson.

Shan and Harrington died on March 1 while Pederson died from his injuries on March 2.

What happened

Full video: Austin authorities provide update on 6th Street shooting investigation

Officials in Austin updated the media on the investigation into the shooting along Sixth Street early Sunday morning that left three people, including the gunman, dead and 14 others wounded.

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 at a previous news conference on March 1.

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 March 2 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.

Dig deeper:

The Travis County District Attorney's Office formally ended the review of the Austin police officers who fired their weapons at the gunman during the mass shooting. 

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."