Texas shooting: Two gunmen shot dead outside Muhammad exhibition – rolling coverage
Two shot dead and security guard injured in Dallas suburb of Garland
Bomb squad called in after reports of an incendiary device
Exhibition and contest showcased depictions of the prophet Muhammad
Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders spoke at the event
Updated 2d ago
0:00
/
0:52
Two men have been shot dead at a ‘draw the prophet’ Muhammad contest near Dallas, Texas. A security officer was reportedly also injured after he shot at the men, who drove up to the event and shot at a guard, authorities said.
Paul Farrell and Damien Gayle
Monday 4 May 2015 13.04 BST Last modified on Monday 4 May 2015 14.23 BST
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Key events
2d agoSummary
2d agoTwitter suspends #texasattack account
2d agoTexas working to determine "cause and scope" of attack, says governor
Order by
2d ago
13:04
Summary
This blog is coming to and end. These are the key developments so far.
Two gunmen were shot dead by police on Sunday night after opening fire on a “draw the prophet Muhammad” contest in Garland, north-east of Dallas, Texas
One school security officer was lightly injured in the attack and taken to hospital for treatment, but heavy security around the event meant that the attackers were unable to get inside the venue.
Just minutes before the attack took place, an Twitter account with the username “Shariah is Light” posted a message saying “may Allah accept us as mujahideen” and ending “#texasattack”. The account was suspended soon after.
Police evacuated attendees, including the guest of honour, Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders, from the event at the Curtis Cullwell Center after the two gunmen were killed, amid fears the attackers may have brought a bomb.
The bodies of the attackers, whose identities have not been released, lay in the street for several hours after while bomb squad officers searched the area.
Islamic State-linked Twitter accounts posted in support of the attackers after the attack.
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2d ago
12:37
A British man fighting for the Islamic State terror group in Syria posted a string of tweets supporting the attack on the Curtis Cullwell Center.
In the minutes following the attack, Junaid Hussain, from Birmingham, who now goes by the alias Abu Hussain al-Britani, wrote a message under the hashtag #TexasAttack saying: “They Thought They Was Safe In Texas From The Soldiers of The Islamic State.”
Junaid Hussaink, aka Abu Hussain al-Britani, who posted tweets in support of the Texas attackers shortly after the news broke.
Junaid Hussaink, aka Abu Hussain al-Britani, who posted tweets in support of the Texas attackers shortly after the news broke. Photograph: Stewart News/REX Shutterstock/Stewart News/REX_Shutterstock
As it became clear that the two gunmen involved in the attack had been killed, Hussain added: “The 2 Brothers attained shahdah in texas! O Kuffar know that death is better than living humiliated! Allahu Akbar !!!”
“Shahda” in the context appears to be an alternative transliteration of Shahada, an Islamic creed declaring belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as the true prophet.
Hussain’s account was shortly afterwards suspended by Twitter, but his tweets were grabbed and reposted by at least one other user. He has previously used various accounts on the microblogging site to urge attacks in the West and encourage others to travel to Syria to join the IS insurgency.
One of the most high-profile Britons inside Islamic State, Hussain was jailed in 2012 for hacking Tony Blair’s office computer then publishing the former PM’s address and national insurance number online. In January he was identified as the lead suspect in a hack of the US Central Command Twitter page.
Updated at 9.44pm AEST
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2d ago
11:30
The American Freedom Defense Initiative paid for 40 police officers to work as security at their Prophet Mohammed cartoon drawing competition, Dallas News reports, shedding light on how the gunmen who attacked the event were killed so quickly.
The paper, which had a reporter present described “thick security that included Garland police, school district security and private guards”.
It said the cost of hiring in the officers was $10,000, an expense which Pam Geller, the event’s organiser, described as “the high cost of freedom.”
Meanwhile, the security man injured in the shootout has been identified in local media as Garland Independent School District officer Bruce Joiner. The 58-year-old was treated in a nearby hospital after he was shot in the ankle, but was released less than two hours later, according to local TV station NBC DFW.
Bosch Fawstin, who was due to collect $10,000 after his Muhammad caricature won the event, told the paper that when he saw how much security was in place was around the event he didn’t believe there would be any danger.
WVTM 13 said the around 200 people who attended the event had to buy tickets in advance and go through metal detectors in the way in. “We were prepared for something like this,” the news station quoted Joe Harn, a police spokesman, as saying.
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2d ago
09:15
Twitter suspends #texasattack account
Attention is focusing on a tweet sent 15 minutes before the first reports of the shooting from a now-suspended account with the username “Shariah is Life”, in which an individual indicates he his preparing to make an attack. It includes the hashtag #texasattack.
The writer pledges allegiance (bay’ah) to Amirul Mu’mineen, Arabic for “Commander of the Faithful”, before adding: “May Allah accept us mujahideen”.
Texas attack tweet
This tweet was sent from an account called “Shariah is Light” 15 minutes before the first police reports of an attack on the Carter Culwell Center Photograph: Guardian
A Guardian Australia reporter was able to take a screengrab of it before the account was suspended. It is timestamped at 9.35am Sydney time, which is 6.35pm Central Daylight Time in Texas. That’s 15 minutes before Garland Police Department received its first reports of gunfire at the Curtis Culwell Center.
The account had posted a number of tweets supporting Islamic extremism, including the Islamic State terror group in the Middle East. Its profile picture shows Yemeni-American al-Qaida recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, who in 2011 became the first US national killed by a drone strike.
Other tweets grabbed before the account was shut down suggested the individual behind the account was a newly converted Muslim, including statements like “I don’t know Arabic” and “my fam didn’t trip when I became a Muslim”.
Updated at 6.25pm AEST
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2d ago
08:33
Summary
Here’s a short summary of events as they stand at the moment:
Two gunmen have been killed in a shootout in Dallas, Texas outside an event where a competition was being run to draw depictions of the prophet Mohammed. One police officer was injured, but he has now been released from hospital.
Garland police are investigating whether an “incendiary device” is located in the gunmen’s car.
The identities of the shooters is still unknown. The American Freedom Defense Initiative organised the event at the Curtis Culwell Centre, where the shooting occurred outside. Dutch politician Geert Wilders was also in attendance at the moment.
Updated at 6.15pm AEST
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2d ago
07:42
This audio is a brief excerpt from the immediate aftermath of the shooting inside the American Freedom Defense Initiative event in Garland, Texas.
0:00
/
0:00
In the recording a police officer informs the guests about the shootings, and said he is concerned about the possibility of explosives. The guests are requested to move to another location.
One audience member asks “are the suspects Muslim?”
The officer responds that he has “no idea right now” and says they are going to move the people away from the front of the building quickly. There is nervous laughter from the crowd, and then scattered clapping.
Updated at 4.58pm AEST
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2d ago
07:03
It appears that police are still attempting to determine whether any explosive devices are inside the car of the two gunmen.
Journalists and members of the public have been evacuated from the area, so information from the scene remains scant.
garland shooting
A police officer stands near a school bus used to evacuate attendees of the art exhibit. Photograph: Mike Stone/Reuters
Updated at 8.19pm AEST
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2d ago
06:45
Here’s a short video from Reuters with an update on the current situation:
0:00
/
0:00
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
06:44
The Dallas Fort Worth scanner site aggregates information from the radio feeds of emergency services across Texas. The site has created this map with rolling updates of information.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
06:37
My colleague Bridie Jabour has just filed this explainer on the American Freedom Defense Initiative:
A co-founder of the group behind the contest to award $10,000 for the best cartoon depiction of Mohammed, is a New Yorker who runs a blog that campaigns to stop the “Islamification” of America.
Pamela Geller, used her blog Atlas Shrugs to declare “this is war” in the hours after the shooting of two gunmen at the contest, which had been organised by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a group co-founded by Geller and Robert Spencer in 2010.
Geller, the winner of numerous awards from far right organisations such as the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is credited with coining the term “ground zero mega mosque” as part of highly publicised campaign against the development of community centre, which included a mosque, a few blocks from where the twin towers once stood.
She became politically active after the September 11 attacks and has told various newspapers she had never heard of Osama Bin Laden until the day of the attacks but started educating herself as a housewife living in Long Island raising four children. She eventually started a blog, Atlas Shrugs.
A prolific poster - the blog usually has between 10 and 15 posts per day - Gellar took to it soon after two armed gunmen were shot outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland in Garland, Texas.
More details on the group in this piece will be up shortly.
Two shot dead and security guard injured in Dallas suburb of Garland
Bomb squad called in after reports of an incendiary device
Exhibition and contest showcased depictions of the prophet Muhammad
Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders spoke at the event
Updated 2d ago
0:00
/
0:52
Two men have been shot dead at a ‘draw the prophet’ Muhammad contest near Dallas, Texas. A security officer was reportedly also injured after he shot at the men, who drove up to the event and shot at a guard, authorities said.
Paul Farrell and Damien Gayle
Monday 4 May 2015 13.04 BST Last modified on Monday 4 May 2015 14.23 BST
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+
Shares
2,779
Key events
2d agoSummary
2d agoTwitter suspends #texasattack account
2d agoTexas working to determine "cause and scope" of attack, says governor
Order by
2d ago
13:04
Summary
This blog is coming to and end. These are the key developments so far.
Two gunmen were shot dead by police on Sunday night after opening fire on a “draw the prophet Muhammad” contest in Garland, north-east of Dallas, Texas
One school security officer was lightly injured in the attack and taken to hospital for treatment, but heavy security around the event meant that the attackers were unable to get inside the venue.
Just minutes before the attack took place, an Twitter account with the username “Shariah is Light” posted a message saying “may Allah accept us as mujahideen” and ending “#texasattack”. The account was suspended soon after.
Police evacuated attendees, including the guest of honour, Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders, from the event at the Curtis Cullwell Center after the two gunmen were killed, amid fears the attackers may have brought a bomb.
The bodies of the attackers, whose identities have not been released, lay in the street for several hours after while bomb squad officers searched the area.
Islamic State-linked Twitter accounts posted in support of the attackers after the attack.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
12:37
A British man fighting for the Islamic State terror group in Syria posted a string of tweets supporting the attack on the Curtis Cullwell Center.
In the minutes following the attack, Junaid Hussain, from Birmingham, who now goes by the alias Abu Hussain al-Britani, wrote a message under the hashtag #TexasAttack saying: “They Thought They Was Safe In Texas From The Soldiers of The Islamic State.”
Junaid Hussaink, aka Abu Hussain al-Britani, who posted tweets in support of the Texas attackers shortly after the news broke.
Junaid Hussaink, aka Abu Hussain al-Britani, who posted tweets in support of the Texas attackers shortly after the news broke. Photograph: Stewart News/REX Shutterstock/Stewart News/REX_Shutterstock
As it became clear that the two gunmen involved in the attack had been killed, Hussain added: “The 2 Brothers attained shahdah in texas! O Kuffar know that death is better than living humiliated! Allahu Akbar !!!”
“Shahda” in the context appears to be an alternative transliteration of Shahada, an Islamic creed declaring belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as the true prophet.
Hussain’s account was shortly afterwards suspended by Twitter, but his tweets were grabbed and reposted by at least one other user. He has previously used various accounts on the microblogging site to urge attacks in the West and encourage others to travel to Syria to join the IS insurgency.
One of the most high-profile Britons inside Islamic State, Hussain was jailed in 2012 for hacking Tony Blair’s office computer then publishing the former PM’s address and national insurance number online. In January he was identified as the lead suspect in a hack of the US Central Command Twitter page.
Updated at 9.44pm AEST
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
11:30
The American Freedom Defense Initiative paid for 40 police officers to work as security at their Prophet Mohammed cartoon drawing competition, Dallas News reports, shedding light on how the gunmen who attacked the event were killed so quickly.
The paper, which had a reporter present described “thick security that included Garland police, school district security and private guards”.
It said the cost of hiring in the officers was $10,000, an expense which Pam Geller, the event’s organiser, described as “the high cost of freedom.”
Meanwhile, the security man injured in the shootout has been identified in local media as Garland Independent School District officer Bruce Joiner. The 58-year-old was treated in a nearby hospital after he was shot in the ankle, but was released less than two hours later, according to local TV station NBC DFW.
Bosch Fawstin, who was due to collect $10,000 after his Muhammad caricature won the event, told the paper that when he saw how much security was in place was around the event he didn’t believe there would be any danger.
WVTM 13 said the around 200 people who attended the event had to buy tickets in advance and go through metal detectors in the way in. “We were prepared for something like this,” the news station quoted Joe Harn, a police spokesman, as saying.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
09:15
Twitter suspends #texasattack account
Attention is focusing on a tweet sent 15 minutes before the first reports of the shooting from a now-suspended account with the username “Shariah is Life”, in which an individual indicates he his preparing to make an attack. It includes the hashtag #texasattack.
The writer pledges allegiance (bay’ah) to Amirul Mu’mineen, Arabic for “Commander of the Faithful”, before adding: “May Allah accept us mujahideen”.
Texas attack tweet
This tweet was sent from an account called “Shariah is Light” 15 minutes before the first police reports of an attack on the Carter Culwell Center Photograph: Guardian
A Guardian Australia reporter was able to take a screengrab of it before the account was suspended. It is timestamped at 9.35am Sydney time, which is 6.35pm Central Daylight Time in Texas. That’s 15 minutes before Garland Police Department received its first reports of gunfire at the Curtis Culwell Center.
The account had posted a number of tweets supporting Islamic extremism, including the Islamic State terror group in the Middle East. Its profile picture shows Yemeni-American al-Qaida recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, who in 2011 became the first US national killed by a drone strike.
Other tweets grabbed before the account was shut down suggested the individual behind the account was a newly converted Muslim, including statements like “I don’t know Arabic” and “my fam didn’t trip when I became a Muslim”.
Updated at 6.25pm AEST
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
08:33
Summary
Here’s a short summary of events as they stand at the moment:
Two gunmen have been killed in a shootout in Dallas, Texas outside an event where a competition was being run to draw depictions of the prophet Mohammed. One police officer was injured, but he has now been released from hospital.
Garland police are investigating whether an “incendiary device” is located in the gunmen’s car.
The identities of the shooters is still unknown. The American Freedom Defense Initiative organised the event at the Curtis Culwell Centre, where the shooting occurred outside. Dutch politician Geert Wilders was also in attendance at the moment.
Updated at 6.15pm AEST
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
07:42
This audio is a brief excerpt from the immediate aftermath of the shooting inside the American Freedom Defense Initiative event in Garland, Texas.
0:00
/
0:00
In the recording a police officer informs the guests about the shootings, and said he is concerned about the possibility of explosives. The guests are requested to move to another location.
One audience member asks “are the suspects Muslim?”
The officer responds that he has “no idea right now” and says they are going to move the people away from the front of the building quickly. There is nervous laughter from the crowd, and then scattered clapping.
Updated at 4.58pm AEST
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
07:03
It appears that police are still attempting to determine whether any explosive devices are inside the car of the two gunmen.
Journalists and members of the public have been evacuated from the area, so information from the scene remains scant.
garland shooting
A police officer stands near a school bus used to evacuate attendees of the art exhibit. Photograph: Mike Stone/Reuters
Updated at 8.19pm AEST
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
06:45
Here’s a short video from Reuters with an update on the current situation:
0:00
/
0:00
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
06:44
The Dallas Fort Worth scanner site aggregates information from the radio feeds of emergency services across Texas. The site has created this map with rolling updates of information.
Facebook Twitter Google plus
2d ago
06:37
My colleague Bridie Jabour has just filed this explainer on the American Freedom Defense Initiative:
A co-founder of the group behind the contest to award $10,000 for the best cartoon depiction of Mohammed, is a New Yorker who runs a blog that campaigns to stop the “Islamification” of America.
Pamela Geller, used her blog Atlas Shrugs to declare “this is war” in the hours after the shooting of two gunmen at the contest, which had been organised by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a group co-founded by Geller and Robert Spencer in 2010.
Geller, the winner of numerous awards from far right organisations such as the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is credited with coining the term “ground zero mega mosque” as part of highly publicised campaign against the development of community centre, which included a mosque, a few blocks from where the twin towers once stood.
She became politically active after the September 11 attacks and has told various newspapers she had never heard of Osama Bin Laden until the day of the attacks but started educating herself as a housewife living in Long Island raising four children. She eventually started a blog, Atlas Shrugs.
A prolific poster - the blog usually has between 10 and 15 posts per day - Gellar took to it soon after two armed gunmen were shot outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland in Garland, Texas.
More details on the group in this piece will be up shortly.
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