New York, March 1 (EFE).- United States authorities are investigating whether the shooting that caused the death of two people in Austin (Texas) is related to the attacks on Iran within the framework of the joint operation with Israel that began on Saturday, according to The Washington Post this Sunday.
Two people close to the investigation explained to the Post that authorities believe that the man who opened fire in a Texas bar this morning could have been motivated by Operation Epic Fury, as the Pentagon named the operation that caused the death of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamení.
At least two people died and 18 were injured, three of them in critical condition.
The incident took place around 2:00 a.m. local time (08:00 GMT) in a popular university bar area. The suspect, who was killed by officers responding to the shooting, had been hanging around the bar before he started shooting, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference.
The alleged attacker was wearing a T-shirt with the Iranian flag that read “Property of Allah,” and investigators later found a Koran in the car he drove to the scene of the shooting, according to one of the people familiar with the case.
The FBI is working on the investigation alongside its Joint Terrorism Task Force.
According to special agent Alex Doran in a press conference, from the beginning “indications” were found that point to “possible terrorist links.”
The suspect, according to NBC, is a US citizen of Senegalese origin who has lived in the country for more than 15 years.
The authorities initially ruled out direct cooperation with any Iranian group, according to Post sources. Still, they cautioned that the investigation is at an early stage.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt explained that US President Donald Trump had been briefed about the incident.
In the early hours of this Saturday, the United States and Israel began an operation against Iran that ended with the death of the ayatollah and a large part of his leadership.
Iran, for its part, has responded with attacks on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and some countries in the region where there are US military bases.
After announcing the start of the bombings, the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, raised the level of terrorist alert in the US. EFE
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