Jihadists Nadir Soofi and Elton Simpson were shot dead when they tried to ambush the Texas “Draw Mohammad Contest.”
ISIS took responsibility for the attack on Tuesday.
The AP reported:
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a weekend attack at a center near Dallas, Texas, that was exhibiting cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad – though it offered no evidence of a direct link to the attackers.
An audio statement on the extremist group’s Al Bayan radio station said that “two soldiers of the caliphate” carried out Sunday’s attack and promised the group would deliver more attacks in the future.
The Islamic State did not provide details and it was unclear whether the group was opportunistically claiming the attack as its own. It was the first time the IS, which frequently calls for attacks against the West, had claimed responsibility for one in the United States.
Two suspects in Sunday’s attack in the Dallas suburb of Garland were shot dead after opening fire at a security guard outside the center.
It was also unclear from the statement whether the group, which has captured large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, had an actual hand in the operation, or whether the two suspects had pledged allegiance to the group and then carried out the attack on their own.
The suspects have been identified by officials as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi. They opened fire in on an unarmed security officer stationed outside the contest center featuring cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
