New York: The fallout from the Iran war has claimed the life of an Indian-origin student in Texas, who was shot along with another student outside a popular landmark by a man wearing Iranian insignia.
Authorities on Monday identified Savita Shan as one of two people killed in a shooting in Austin on Sunday morning that also injured 14 others.
Authorities said the shooter was identified as a Senegalese immigrant who was wearing a T-shirt with the Iranian flag and a shirt that read “Property of Allah.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Acting Special Agent Alex Doran said there were indications that the 53-year-old shooter, Ndiaga Diagne, had “connections to terrorism,” which they were investigating.
Law enforcement across the US has been put on high alert due to fears of terrorism after the US and Israel began bombing Iran on Saturday. FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X that he had “directed our counterterrorism and intelligence teams to be on high alert.”
University of Texas President Jim Davis confirmed Shan’s death in an email to the campus community, saying she was a student who was “preparing to change the world.”
He described her as “the child of loving parents” and “a loyal friend to many.”
He said, “We are all saddened by this terrible news, and we will miss her.”
The university’s radio station, KUT, said that according to a friend, she was 21 years old and grew up in Austin.
On LinkedIn, Shan posted that she was pursuing a dual bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management Information Systems from the University of Texas at Austin and expected to graduate this year.
She wrote that she was a volunteer with the Austin Tamil Sangam.
She also started SunflakeStickers, an e-commerce business selling stickers.
She said she was an intern with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Staples, a large office supply retailer.
Describing the shooting, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said that on Sunday morning, Diagne parked his car outside a beer garden and fired a pistol at people on its patio.
She said he then got out of the car and began firing a rifle at passersby before being killed by police.
