The bodycam footage from the Austin mass shooting, which is under investigation as a terrorist act, is set to be released this Thursday. This comes after the county’s liberal district attorney declared he would not pursue charges against the three officers who fatally shot the suspect.
On Wednesday, Travis County District Attorney José Garza announced in a press release that no legal action would be taken against the officers involved in the shooting of 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. Diagne was responsible for killing three people and injuring more than a dozen others in a shooting spree outside a bar in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.
The press release stated, “Today, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office informed the Austin Police Department that it has officially concluded its review of the mass shooting on 6th Street and will not pursue any charges against the three officers who intervened to stop the shooting.”
According to a policy introduced by Garza’s office in 2021, all incidents involving officer-involved shootings are required to be presented before a grand jury.
District Attorney José Garza addresses the media at a press conference on February 19, 2026. (Photo by Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Michael Bullock, President of the Austin Police Association, expressed to Fox News Digital his wish that Garza had decided against convening a grand jury sooner. He also mentioned that police officers often feel they are under threat from the liberal district attorney’s office.
“The reality is APD officers are more afraid of the DA targeting them than a gunman shooting at them,” Bullock told Fox News Digital.
Police officers guard the scene after a shooting on March 1, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Bullock said it’s the first time Garza hasn’t presented an officer-involved shooting to a grand jury since implementing the policy.
Doug O’Connell, a criminal defense attorney representing the Austin police officers, told Fox News the 2021 policy was instituted at the direction of the Wren Collective, which is a criminal-justice reform group providing financial support to progressive prosecutors.
“When our current district attorney came into office about six years ago, he instituted this policy at the direction of the Wren Collective, and it’s been in place since that time. Every officer-involved shooting has been presented to the grand jury,” O’Connell said. “It’s not required by law. It is simply a policy decision that he’s instituted at the direction of Wren Collective.”
Bullock said the Wren Collective has recently pushed “to increase the number of indictments against officers which can only be done through grand jury.”
The Austin Police Department released a photo of Ndiaga Diagne as the suspect tied to Sunday’s mass shooting. (Austin Police Department)
National Police Association spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith told Fox News Digital that investigations into officer-involved shootings should be internal.
“A grand jury is basically a secret process and is controlled by the prosecutor. These officers cannot have a defense attorney or a union representative in the grand jury,” Smith said. “He is well known as one of the most anti-police district attorneys in the nation.”
Garza previously called the officers that killed Diagne “heroes.” The shooting happened at Austin’s Buford’s Backyard Beer garden shortly before 2 a.m. on Sunday.
Federal agents comb the scene of a potential terrorist attack in Austin, Texas. (Aaron E. Martinez/Getty Images)
FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Alex Doran said during a press conference on Sunday that while investigators are still looking for a possible motive, there were “indicators that on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism.”
Law enforcement sources told Fox News that the shooter was wearing a sweatshirt that read “Property of Allah“ as well as an undershirt with an Iranian flag. The sources said a Quran was also found in Diagne’s car. According to CBS News, Diagne had pictures of Iranian leaders at his home as well as an Iranian flag.
Savitha Shan, 21, Ryder Harrington, 19 and Jorge Pederson, 30, were killed in the shooting, authorities said during a Monday press conference.
Diagne initially entered the United States in 2000 on a B-2 tourist visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security, becoming a lawful permanent resident in 2006 after marrying a U.S. citizen.
On April 5, 2013, Diagne became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
The Austin Police Department and the FBI investigate a shooting at Buford’s on West 6th Street in Austin on March 1, 2026. (Stephanie Tacy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said Diagne “put his flashers on, rolled down his window and began using a pistol shooting out of his car windows, striking patrons of the bar that were on the patio and that were in front of the bar.”
Davis said the suspect exited his vehicle and shot at individuals, but didn’t enter the bar.
Related Article
