A third victim has died following the mass shooting at Buford's bar in Austin, Texas, which is being investigated as a potential act of terrorism. Jorge Pederson, a 30-year-old mixed martial arts fighter from Minnesota, had been on life support since the attack on Sunday. The Austin police department confirmed his death on Monday evening.
The other two victims were identified as Ryder Harrington, 19, a student at Texas Tech University, and Savitha Shan, 21, a student at the University of Texas at Austin. The gunman, 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, a Senegalese national and naturalised US citizen, was fatally shot by police at the scene. He was reportedly wearing a T-shirt with an Iranian flag design under his hoodie.
Authorities are investigating whether the shooting was in retaliation for recent US and Israeli airstrikes in Iran. The FBI has said there are indicators of a potential nexus to terrorism, but it is too early to make a determination. Diagne is believed to have acted alone.
The shooting is one of more than 55 mass shootings in the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The bar's owner, Bob Woody, praised the swift response of law enforcement, who arrived within 57 seconds of the first emergency call, and said staff were receiving grief counselling.
