WATCH ABOVE: There are new questions this morning about the two gunmen behind Sunday’s attempted terror attack in Texas. Both men were being watched by federal investigators. But they were not considered among the most likely to pull off an attack. Edward Lawrence reports.
Officials have named Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi as the two suspects responsible for attacking a “draw the prophet Muhammad” cartoon contest in Texas on Sunday, which left one security guard injured.
Who is Elton Simpson?
Elton Simpson, 30, was a “good kid,” his father told ABC News. But he was also known to the FBI. The agency began investigating Simpson in 2006 because of his association with someone “attempting to set up a terrorist cell” in Arizona.
Simpson eventually faced charges in a terror investigation in 2010 after he was accused of planning to travel to Somalia and lying to the FBI about doing so.
He was sentenced to four years’ probation.
“We are Americans and we believe in America,” Dunston Simpson, Elton’s father, told ABC News. “What my son did reflects very badly on my family.”
Simpson grew up in a Christian home in Phoenix, Arizona and played on the Yavapai College basketball team in Prescott in 2002. Jeff Renegar, a former assistant coach with the team during the season Simpson played, told the Prescott Daily Courier that the suspected shooter was a bit of a “loner.”
“I don’t know if he hung out with his teammates a lot. I think he spent most of his time by himself. He wasn’t as social as the other guys,” Renegar said.
He converted and became a devoted Muslim following his time at Yavapai College. His lawyer during the 2010 terrorism case described him as “very harmless” and “very devout.”
“He was very devout, he would often leave meetings to go pray, he wouldn’t shake my hand as part of his faith. He actively tried to convert me and my staff to Islam,” she told Fox News in Phoenix.
A series of tweets sent minutes before the attack, and hashtagged #TexasAttack hinted at the impending shooting.
“The bro with me and myself have given bay’ah to Amirul Mu’mineen. May allah accept us as mujahideen. Make dua #texasattack,” one read.
Another read: “if there is no check on the freedom of your speech, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions #GarlandShooting #TexasAttack.”
ISIS has taken responsibility for the attack.
The Twitter accounts associated with the tweets have since been suspended.
Who is Nadir Soofi?
The other person in the car outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas on Sunday has been identified as Nadir Soofi, Simpson’s reported roommate. Less is known about Soofi, who appears to have never been prosecuted in a federal court. His mother, Sharon Soofi, spoke to The Dallas Morning News and described her son as “politically involved with the Middle East” and “just aware of what’s going on.”
“The hard thing is to comprehend is why he would do this and leave an 8-year-old son behind,” she said.
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