The dead man behind a horrific Texas mass shooting over the weekend didn’t just have ties to New York; he had carved out a life for himself in the Big Apple, sources familiar with the investigation said.
The FBI is now investigating whether the suspected shooter, Ndiaga Diagne, had ties to Iran and if the attack was an act of terrorism. Police say Diagne opened fire outside a bar in the heart of Austin’s Entertainment District early on the morning of March 1, leaving two dead and 14 wounded. Diagne himself was shot dead during the rampage by Austin Police.
However, sources say that the dead gunman had previously lived in the Bronx for years.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Diagne had immigrated to the United States in 2000 on a tourist visa from Senegal. Law enforcement sources report that he was arrested one year later in Times Square on June 29, 2001, along 45th Street and Broadway for illegal vending; he was caught selling sunglasses without a license.
Online records show that four years later, he was married on Dec. 30, 2005, in the Bronx. In 2006, he received a green card and became a permanent resident. He was only hitched for three years before, in 2008, he initiated a divorce against his wife.
In March 2012, Diagne married again in Manhattan.
In April of 2016 he appeared to join X — then known as Twitter — and the same year wrote a scathing message about a police officer at the 43rd Precinct in the Bronx.
“Just send crooked donald hook, he will grab lot of innocent people and send them to jail. I lost all respect for nypd,” Diagne wrote on April 19, 2016. The reasons why he singled out this officer in his post are not known.
Diagne has only two posts on that account and, as of 2026, just two followers.
Sources familiar with his past say he was arrested again in 2018, though the arrest is sealed and the exact charge is unclear. In 2022, Diagne divorced his second wife. Officials have yet to clarify exactly when he moved to Texas.
During Sunday’s shooting in Austin, authorities say Diagne used both a rifle and a handgun while wearing a sweatshirt that read “Property of Allah.” Because it happened the day after the United States’ strike on Iran, authorities are examining whether Diagne’s motivation was in possible retribution for the strikes.
The FBI reported “indicators” of a possible act of terrorism at the crime scene.
Meanwhile, in New York, the NYPD released a statement stating that following the shooting, the department remains on high alert and will maintain patrols at “sensitive locations” throughout the city.
“The NYPD continues to closely monitor the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East. Following the mass shooting in Austin, Texas, and as Jewish communities celebrate Purim, we will maintain enhanced high-visibility patrols to sensitive locations citywide. This is due to the heightened threat environment and out of an abundance of caution,” the NYPD said in a statement.
