Officials identified UT student Savitha Shan, 21; Ryder Harrington, 19; and Jorge Pederson, 30, as among the deceased on Monday.
The FBI is investigating the shooting — which occurred on Sunday around 2 a.m. local time at Buford’s, a bar near the University of Texas at Austin — as a possible act of terrorism. Officials said it could also be a reaction to the war in Iran.
Content warning: mentions of violence below.
Police fatally shot the gunman, Ndiaga Diagne, a 53-year-old U.S. citizen from Senegal. Diagne drove by the bar in an SUV and shot at several people. He then parked, walked out with a rifle, and continued shooting. He injured at least 14 others, many of whom were sitting outside the bar. Officials said he was wearing a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah.”
Savitha Shanmugasundaram, who was Indian American and Tamil, was set to graduate in 2026 with a bachelor’s in Economics and Business Administration. She was president of the university’s Indian Students Association and a volunteer for Austin’s Tamil Sangam. She also enjoyed graphic design.
UT Austin President Jim Davis described Savitha Shan as “a child of loving parents, a loyal friend to many, a Longhorn preparing to change the world.” Harrington was a student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock from fall 2024 to fall 2025.
“Texas mourns with the families and loved ones of those who were horrifically killed in last night’s attack in Austin,” Texas Governor Gregg Abbott said. “Texans are strong. We will not be intimidated, and we will not be terrorized.”
Soon after the shooting, some Texas lawmakers called for an end to almost all legal immigration.
This is a developing story.
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