Gunmen open fire on security guard outside the contest in Dallas suburb of Garland held to find the best cartoon of the prophet

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Two gunmen have been killed and a security guard injured during what appears to be an attack on a contest for cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad in a Dallas suburb.

The gunmen drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland shortly before 7pm on Sunday where the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) were hosting the exhibition and contest.

According to city authorities an unarmed guard at the event was shot at before the men were engaged and killed by police.

Authorities immediately locked down the center, evacuating the 200 participants at the event and sealing off large areas including a nearby shopping mall.

A bomb squad was called in after reports of a possible incendiary device at the scene of the incident. Police said a “bomb container trailer” had also been deployed in which to place any suspect device.

A police spokesman said two males had been killed and their bodies were still lying outside their car hours later.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Audio in the aftermath of the shootings.

“Because of the situation of what was going on today and the history of what we’ve been told has happened at other events like this, we are considering their car (is) possibly containing a bomb,” Officer Joe Harn, a spokesman for the Garland Police Department, said.

Live footage from a TV helicopter appeared to show a number of objects on the ground and remote control bomb disposal machines near a dark-coloured vehicle.

Although the shootings occurred at the perimeter of the controversial cartoon event there has been no confirmation that the two were definitively linked.

Police spokesman Harn said they had not immediately determined the identity of the two gunmen.

“I have no idea who they are, other than they’re dead and in the street,” he told Reuters.

Earlier a statement from the City of Garland read:

As today’s Muhammad art exhibit event at the Curtis Culwell Center was coming to an end, two males drove up to the front of the building in a car. Both males were armed and began shooting at a Garland ISD security officer. Garland police officers engaged the gunmen, who were both shot and killed. Police suspect the vehicle may contain an incendiary device and the bomb squad is on the scene. The surrounding businesses including Academy Sports, Walmart and Sam’s are being evacuated. Event participants are also being evacuated from the Curtis Culwell Center for their safety.

The Dallas Morning News had earlier reported that two men pulled up in a car near the event and shot at a security officer. The security officer involved received injuries that were not life-threatening and was quickly released from hospital.



The shootings were also reported by a local NBC reporter near the event.

Jocelyn Lockwood (@JocelynNBC5) Breaking: 3 ppl shot. 2 men arrived in vehicle opened fire hitting someone. Garland police shot/killed men. @NBCDFW

Douglas Athas, the mayor of Garland, described the shootings. “Two men in a car tried to drive into the parking lot, jumped out with automatic rifles. Started firing at an unarmed schools security officer who was hit in the leg. He was transported to the hospital.

“The first suspect was shot immediately. The second was shot and wounded, reached for his backpack and, of course, officers not knowing any idea what was in the backpack, shot him again and he was killed.”

Large areas around the centre were sealed off and shops including Wal Mart were evacuated as a bomb squad was brought in.



PaddyNation (@PaddyNation) #JustNow: @PlanoPoliceDept bomb squad arrived at the scene assisting #Garland police. #GarlandShooting @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/B5JnCbo5bG

Jobin Panicker (@jobinpnews) #BREAKING Officer blocking door. Hearing it was shooting involving officer. @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/YY5YP4i9ls

Athas said security had been tight at the event amid concerns it was controversial and it had attracted a crowd mostly from outside the district.

“This group wanted to rent it [the center].” he said. “There was concern which is why we had heightened security in the area, but we all swear to uphold the constitution, free speech, free assembly and in this case freedom of religion, so they were welcome to use the building.”

The AFDI’s event was attended by Geert Wilders, the Dutch far-right populist politician who gave a keynote speech to the audience.



Wilders heads the Party for Freedom and has been accused of inciting racial hatred after pledging in 2014 to ensure there would be “fewer Moroccans” in the Netherlands.

He later tweeted his praise for the efforts of police during the incident.



Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) Picture taken just before #garlandshooting . Thank God the heroes of SWAT-team prevented the worst. pic.twitter.com/BBaQNJir9b

After an alert was raised at the event in Garland, about 75 attendees at the controversial event were taken to another room.

Later, a group of 48 people were escorted to a school bus. Authorities told attendees they would be taken to a nearby high school. A second group was set to be moved shortly after.

Jobin Panicker (@jobinpnews) Ppl evacuated singing patriotic songs. @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/8xOWS9isv1

Johnny Roby of Oklahoma City, was attending the conference.



He told Associated Press he was outside the building when he heard about 20 shots that appeared to be coming from the direction of a car passing by. Roby said he then heard two single shots.

He said he heard officers yell that they had the car before he was sent inside the building.



The New York-based AFDI was hosting a contest that would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad as well as a $2,500 “people’s choice award”.

Such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world. According to mainstream Islamic tradition any physical depiction of the prophet Muhammad, even a respectful one, is considered blasphemous.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Artist Bosch Fawstin, left, is presented with a check for $12,500 by Dutch politician Geert Wilders, center, and Pamela Geller, right. Photograph: Gregory Castillo/AP

In January, 12 people were killed by gunmen in an attack against the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had lampooned Islam and other religions and used depictions of the prophet.

Pamela Geller, the president of the AFDI, said she planned the Sunday event to make a stand for free speech in response to the outcries and violence over drawings of the prophet.

Geller, who is known for her stance on Islam, said on Fox News that she chose the Garland venue because it was where American Muslim leaders held a conference on combating Islamophobia a week after the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

After the incident, the AFDI posted an angry statement on its website: “This is a war. This is war on free speech. What are we going to do? Are we going to surrender to these monsters?



“Two men with rifles and backpacks attacked police outside our event. A cop was shot; his injuries are not life-threatening, thank Gd. Please keep him in your prayers.

“The bomb squad has been called to the event site to investigate a backpack left at the event site.

“The war is here.”

Geller’s group is known for mounting a campaign against the building of an Islamic center blocks from the World Trade Center site and for buying advertising space in cities across the US criticizing Islam.