Texas authorities on Monday named the two slain victims from this weekend’s deadly mass shooting in Austin that also left 14 others wounded.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis identified the victims as Ryder Harrington, 19, and 21-year-old Savitha Shan.
Chief Davis also said one of the critically wounded victims was expected to be removed from life support. Two others who were shot early Sunday are still fighting for their lives in a hospital.
The siblings of Mr. Harrington, a student at Texas Tech University, remembered their brother on social media.
“It is unfair, to say the least, that my little brother was only given 19 years on this earth,” brother Reed Harrington wrote on Facebook. “Watching the man he had become, and seeing all the lives he touched, leaves me certain that this world was robbed of a great future.”
Reagan Harrington, the victim’s sister, referred to Mr. Harrington as her “best friend” while brother Ryan Harrington said he is going to miss his brother.
Texas State House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Mr. Harrington was “exactly the kind of young man who made a difference without even trying — full of life, loyal to his friends, proud to be a Red Raider and a Texan, and someone who showed up for the people around him.”
Mr. Harrington’s fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, set up a GoFundMe for the victim that had raised nearly $75,000 by Monday afternoon. The fraternity also planned a vigil for their slain brother Monday evening.
Police said the motive of gunman Ndiaga Diagne is still under review.
The 53-year-old shooter was wearing a “Property of Allah” hooded sweatshirt and a T-shirt with an Iranian flag on it when he opened fire on the crowds in Austin’s nightclub neighborhood.
The attack early Sunday erupted a day after the U.S. military killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a coordinated strike with Israel.
The FBI is leading the investigation and said it is looking into Diagne’s possible links to terrorism.
Investigators said Diagne, a native of Senegal who became a naturalized U.S. citizen, legally purchased the handgun and rifle he used for the attack back in 2017.
The killer was not on law enforcement’s radar prior to the shooting on Austin’s bustling Sixth Street at about 2 a.m. Sunday, just as the bars were clearing out after last call.
Authorities said Diagne opened fire from his car, and then drove down the street, got out of the vehicle and unloaded his rifle on the bar patrons filling the streets.
Police officers working nightlife security in the area shot and killed Diagne less than a minute after he began his rampage.
Police Chief Davis said officials will provide another update on the shooting Thursday.
