AFP, Houston

The gunman who killed two people and wounded 14 overnight in Austin, the capital of the US state of Texas, had expressed “pro-Iranian regime sentiment” on social media, the SITE Intelligence Group said Sunday.

The organization, which monitors jihadist groups, identified the assailant, who was shot dead by police, as Ndiaga Diagne, a US citizen of Senegalese origin. Austin police confirmed that identification Sunday evening.

Representative Chip Roy, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, published a picture on X of the purported gunman showing him holding a rifle and wearing a sweatshirt that says “Property of Allah.”

SITE said Diagne had expressed “pro-Iranian regime sentiment and hatred for Israeli and American leadership” in Facebook posts dating back to 2017 and had posted a picture of himself holding what appears to be an assault rifle.

FBI special agent Alex Doran said earlier Sunday that a motive for the attack was not known but “there were indicators on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate a potential nexus to terrorism.”