Austin police confirmed Monday afternoon that two Texas college students were among those slain by a gunman who opened fire at a popular 6th Street bar early Sunday morning.
Austin Police Chief said during a press conference that Ryder Harrington, 19, and Savitha Shan, 21, lost their lives in the mass shooting at Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden. Another person, whom authorities haven’t identified, will be taken off life support on Monday, bringing the total death count to three.
Two of the 14 people wounded are still in critical condition, according to police.
An Austin resident, Harrington was an undergraduate at Texas Tech University and a member of the Beta Theta Phi fraternity.
“Ryder had a rare ability to truly enjoy life to make people laugh, to make moments feel bigger, and to make ordinary days unforgettable,” an Instagram post from the fraternity said. “If anybody embodied what it meant to live fully and love deeply, it was Ryder.”
Meanwhile, Shan was a student at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, according to her LinkedIn.
UT President Jim Davis, in a Monday message to students, wrote that Shan was the “child of loving parents” and a “Longhorn preparing to change the world.”
“It is devastating, and I know all of us are grieved by this horrible news, and we will remember her,” Davis added.
Davis also confirmed that several UT students are among those injured during the attack.
“Some of these are very serious and we are hoping for the best outcomes, while others are on the path to recovery,” he wrote.
Ndiaga Diange, 53, opened fire on the crowded bar shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, according to authorities. He was a Senegalese national who immigrated to the U.S. in 2000 and eventually became a citizen.
Police shot and killed Diange during the attack.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are investigating whether the shooting was an act of terrorism and possibly staged in response to the U.S.-led bombing of Iran over the weekend.
Diange was wearing a hoodie with the phrase “Property of Allah” over a shirt with the Iranian flag at the time of the attack. Police also reportedly found a Quran in his vehicle.
Even so, police and DHS affirm that the shooting was an isolated incident, and that there’s no immediate risk to the public.
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