A pair of apparent would-be mass shooters learned the hard way that in Texas, opening fire in the proximity of police is going to get an immediate and deadly reaction.
That’s the outcome of an attack on a gathering in Garland, a Dallas suburb, where people had been attending what was billed as an event that included a contest for Prophet Muhammad cartoons, the kind that allegedly led to the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, France a few months ago. The event was hosted by the American Freedom Defense Initiative.
The incident at the Curtis Culwell Center left a security guard wounded in the leg, and the two gunmen dead.
According to WFAA, a local ABC affiliate, security at the event was beefed up and planning had been on-going “for months.” It appears to authorities that the two deceased would-be terrorists planned to shoot the place up, causing many casualties. They reportedly drove up to the facility, immediately got out of their car and opened fire with rifles.
However, WFAA quoted officer Joe Harn saying that a traffic officer, armed only with a service pistol, returned fire and killed both men.
Authorities reportedly identified one of the dead men as Elton Simpson, a man convicted for lying to a federal officer five years ago about a planned trip to Somalia. Instead of doing jail time, he was placed on probation at the time. The other man was identified as Nadir Soofi, 34. Both men may have been wearing body armor.
Federal agents quickly showed up at Simpson’s residence in Phoenix, Arizona where he reportedly had been living with the other gunman. According to the Daily Telegraph, Simpson had been identified in court documents as an American Muslim.
The Associated Press reported that the gunmen opened fire on the security guard, and the Los Angeles Times said the attack only lasted seconds before the officer shot back. The suspects were quickly felled within feet of their vehicle.
