Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly quoted Shubhi Dhamija as an SDA organizer. Dhamija is an organizer with SDA, but the quote used was given by another organizer, Priyanka Sadagopan. The story has been updated to reflect the correct identity of Sadagopan. TSTV News regrets this error.
This story includes graphic descriptions of violent situations, gun violence and death. A guide to local resources is available at the end of this article.
A mass shooting on Sixth Street in downtown Austin Sunday left four dead, including a UT student. As investigations continue, UT’s campus community has begun to try to heal from the carnage they witnessed firsthand.
The suspected gunman, identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, circled the bar multiple times in his SUV, firing out of the vehicle’s window before parking it and exiting on foot to shoot at pedestrians. Officers on the scene then shot and killed Diagne less than a minute after the attack started, according to Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis.
For Ansalma Rodriguez, a senior mechanical engineering student at UT, it was supposed to be a night of celebration.
Rodriguez, a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, was at Buford’s with friends after her SHPE chapter’s victory in a soccer game. As her group began to leave, she heard the first gunshots.
“My instant thought was … there’s some dumb person just shooting fireworks,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said that one of her friends then grabbed and pushed her toward the ground. As she hid behind one of the tables, it didn’t occur to her how close the threat was.
“I didn’t (think) it was coming from inside,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t feel like I was in immediate danger.”
It wasn’t until she peeked her head out that the gravity of the situation finally set in.
“I saw (a woman) lying on the floor. Her friend was on top of her, and they were either trying to cover up the wound or giving her CPR,” Rodriguez said. “She was losing a lot of blood so fast … that put me in a state of absolute shock.”
It’s a sight she said will stay with her forever.
“I hope (my friends) didn’t see what I did,” Rodriguez said. “That’s in my mind for the rest of my life.”
Rodriguez and her friends then hid behind a bar counter before sheltering in a nearby food truck, sitting with the workers inside while they waited for police.
“I really couldn’t feel anything,” Rodriguez said. “By the time I was hiding behind the bar … I felt like I finally had a chance to breathe. I felt my body starting to shake, and I felt upset, anxious, dread, maybe scared.”
Rebecca, a 21-year-old student at the University of Texas at San Antonio whose name has been changed at her request, was sitting on the upstairs patio of Buford’s celebrating a birthday when the shooting started.
“Where we were standing, we could see people down below start hitting the ground,” Rebecca said. “There was a guy in the street who ran and … he just didn’t get up.”
After a brief moment of silence, she said another round of shots led to panic inside the bar.
“One of the girls that came with us, we couldn’t find her,” Rebecca said. “But then when we went … (inside) the upstairs area, we found her hiding behind some tables, and so we all got together and just made sure everyone was good.”
After posting about the shooting on social media, Rebecca called her mother, who offered to drive her back to San Antonio. She declined and spent the next day at a house with her friends, doing homework and consoling each other.
“It feels very surreal to know I have to go back somewhere on Wednesday,” Rebecca said.
Rodriguez said she spent Sunday night and Monday at her boyfriend’s home.
“We just hugged each other, and that felt nice,” Rodriguez said. “I really appreciated just being in the company of someone who … let me feel what I felt.”
Rodriguez said she also found comfort in spending time with friends who were with her at Buford’s that night.
“Up to this moment, I was very dazed out of it. I just didn’t want to be present because it was just so overwhelming,” Rodriguez said. “When I was with them … I could finally breathe. It felt good to be with others that … went through the same experience.”
At the end of one of her classes on Tuesday, Rodriguez discovered that one of her classmates, Rodolfo Garza Jr., a 21-year-old senior mechanical engineering student, was left in critical condition after the shooting. A GoFundMe started by his mother has raised nearly $350,000 for Garza.
“That was probably like one of the closest moments for me,” Rodriguez said. “(It) made me realize that it could have been me.”
Along with asking for kindness and empathy, Rodriguez wants people to know about the trauma shootings can leave survivors with, including sensory sensitivity.
“I’m trying to stay away from a lot of really loud things because it just bothers me,” Rodriguez said. “Ambulances make me nervous, so whenever I hear it, it just reminds me of that night… I don’t want to go outside anymore.”
The suspected gunman, Ndiaga Diagne, was a Senegalese immigrant who became a naturalized citizen in 2013. Investigators have theorized that Diagne may have been motivated by the recent U.S.-Israeli joint military operations against Iran, as Diagne wore a “Property of Allah” hoodie and an Iranian flag t-shirt during the shooting, according to CBS News.
State republicans have had Muslim residents in their sights months before the shooting. One such politician is Chip Roy, a Texas congressman set to compete in a runoff election for state attorney general, who blamed “mass migration of islamists” for the shooting in a post on X.
“Muslim immigrant violence – naturalized or not – is preventable,” Roy said in the post. “Until Democrats (& Republicans) find the courage to say no to the mass migration of Islamists, our country will be plagued with more tragedies.”
An analysis of 510 mass shootings, spanning from 1966 to 2026, found that 55% were committed by white perpetrators, according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a nonpartisan think-tank centered around public policy.
Additionally, as the percentage that immigrants make of the U.S. population doubled from 1980 to 2022, the violent crime rate has gone down by over 30%, according to an analysis conducted by the American Immigration Council, a subsidiary of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Another study by Stanford economist Ran Abramitsky also found that immigrants held lower incarceration rates than U.S.-born citizens across 150 years of census data.
Rodriguez feels that people are taking advantage of the tragedy to promote racist and divisive rhetoric. She says the real blame lies on the government for failing to properly regulate firearms.
“It’s really dumb that people are making this a religion thing, a race thing, an ethnicity thing, or even an immigrant thing because that’s not the issue,” Rodriguez said. “The issue is the looseness of gun laws and that anybody can go and shoot up a place where a bunch of drunk college kids (are) just trying to enjoy their night.”
Rodriguez also believes society has become apathetic when it comes to mass shootings. That’s why when she went through one herself, she wasn’t surprised.
“I feel like nowadays, there’s … (a) lack of empathy or lack of facing consequences, and it really sucks that … average people like us have to go through that,” Rodriguez said. “I just figured it was a matter of time before someone I knew or myself would go through something like this.”
On Tuesday night, a vigil for the victims was held on UT’s South Mall, bringing a crowd of around 200 people that included students and community members.
The memorial was organized by Students Demand Action, a student organization that advocates for stronger regulation around guns. Priyanka Sadagopan, an SDA organizer, delivered a eulogy for the victims before demanding politicians do more to protect Texans.
“Our leaders have left us vulnerable to gun violence,” Sadagopan said. “In a state with no red flag laws and no background checks on private sales, we are being left to fend for ourselves against anyone who decides to do us harm.”
Ndiaga Diagne had a history of domestic and familial violence, according to 2022 court records that were obtained by the Austin American Statesman. If Diagne had been charged with a domestic violence misdemeanor, Texas law would have banned him from owning a firearm for five years. The pistol and assault rifle Diagne used in the attack were both purchased legally in 2017, according to Police Chief Davis.
The attack marks the 58th mass shooting in the U.S. since January 1st, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
“We refuse to accept this as our normal,” Sadagopan said. “It’s not freedom to fear for your life at a bar, a grocery store, a mall or a school.”
If you’re a UT student in need of support, resources are available through the Counseling and Mental Health Center. A 24/7 crisis line is available at 512-471-2255 for students, and Austinites can reach help 24/7 through Integral Care at 512-472-HELP (4357). The National Crisis and Suicide Prevention Helpline is reachable at 988, and those in need of immediate assistance should call 911. You matter.
