Garland Police, FBI Investigate Shooting Outside Prophet Muhammad Art Event in Garland
By Nomaan Merchant, Jamie Stengle and Todd L. Davis ••
Garland police and the FBI investigate after two men opened fire outside an event showcasing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Garland.
Two men with automatic weapons were fatally shot by a Garland police officer Sunday after they opened fire outside a art contest for Prophet Muhammad cartoons, injuring an unarmed security guard, police say.[[302364121,C]]
The men drove by the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland at about 7 p.m., as the event was scheduled to end, and opened fire on the officers, Garland officials said Monday morning.
A Garland police officer returned fire, killing both men.
Authorities said they have identified the men, though they have not yet confirmed those identities to the media.
The Garland security guard, 58-year-old Bruce Joiner, was hospitalized Sunday night but was released about two hours after the shooting, police said. Joiner worked for the Garland Independent School District and was unarmed when he was shot.
KPNX-TV, the NBC affiliate in Phoenix, reported the two gunmen shared an apartment in that city. The Associated Press reports FBI agents were searching the apartment Monday morning for indications of what may have led to the shooting.[[302396891,C]]
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Authorities said they searched the gunmen's vehicle for explosives, saying, "Because of the situation of what was going on today and the history of what we've been told has happened at other events like this, we are considering their car (is) possibly containing a bomb."
Authorities investigate a vehicle and surrounding shell casings near the site of a shooting at a Prophet Muhammad art event Sunday.
Police said they evacuated the center and surrounding businesses following the shooting.
Tammie Hartnell, who was inside a nearby Walmart at the time of the shooting, said police told everyone to leave immediately.
"We heard a bunch of popping," Hartnell's husband Brant said. "We thought it was fireworks."
NBC 5 News
Police investigate a shooting outside the Prophet Muhammad art exhibit at the Curtis Cullwell Center in Garland. Two men were shot and killed after opening fire on a Garland ISD security officer blocking an entrance to the center.
AP
Members of the Garland Police Department stand inside the Curtis Culwell Center, Sunday, May 3, 2015, in Garland, Texas. A contest for cartoons depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in the Dallas suburb is on lockdown Sunday after authorities reported a shooting outside the building. (AP Photo Nomaan Merchant)
AP
People are sequestered by members of the Garland Police Department inside the Curtis Culwell Center, Sunday, May 3, 2015, in Garland, Texas. A contest for cartoons depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in the Dallas suburb is on lockdown Sunday after authorities reported a shooting outside the building. (AP Photo/Nomaan Merchant)
NBC 5 News
Businesses near the area were evacuated, including a nearby Walmart.
Chocosho
The incident occurred as the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland.
AP
Police officers stands guard at a parking lot near the Curtis Culwell Center where a provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad was held Sunday, May 3, 2015, in Garland, Texas. The contest was put on lockdown Sunday night and attendees were being evacuated after authorities reported a shooting outside the building. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
AP
An armed police officer stands guard at a parking lot near the Curtis Culwell Center where a provocative contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad was held Sunday, May 3, 2015, in Garland, Texas. The contest was put on lockdown Sunday night and attendees were being evacuated after authorities reported a shooting outside the building. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
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As of 1 a.m Monday morning, there was still a crime scene in Garland.
The Plano Bomb Squad was also on scene in Garland.
NBC 5 News
Many people were evacuated from the conference center to safety.
NBC 5 News
Police investigate a shooting outside the Prophet Muhammad art exhibit at the Curtis Cullwell Center in Garland. Two men were shot and killed after opening fire on a Garland ISD security officer blocking an entrance to the center.
Chopper 5
Police investigate a shooting outside the Prophet Muhammad art exhibit at the Curtis Cullwell Center in Garland. Two men were shot and killed after opening fire on a Garland ISD security officer blocking an entrance to the center.
NBC 5 News
Police investigate a shooting outside the Prophet Muhammad art exhibit at the Curtis Cullwell Center in Garland. Two men were shot and killed after opening fire on a Garland ISD security officer blocking an entrance to the center.
NBC 5 News
Police investigate a shooting outside the Prophet Muhammad art exhibit at the Curtis Cullwell Center in Garland. Two men were shot and killed after opening fire on a Garland ISD security officer blocking an entrance to the center.
NBC 5 News
Garland police Officer Joe Harn says a traffic officer working off-duty security fatally shot two men wearing body armor and armed with assault rifles who began shooting outside a Prophet Muhammad cartoon art contest in Garland Sunday, "saving lives."
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Investigators remove a body as they work a crime scene outside the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Investigators remove a body as they work a crime scene outside the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Investigators remove a body as they work a crime scene outside the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
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Investigators remove a body as they work a crime scene outside the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Investigators remove a body as they work a crime scene outside the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Investigators remove a body as they work a crime scene outside the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Investigators work a crime scene before the removal a two bodies outside of the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Investigators remove a body as they work a crime scene outside the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Getty Images
An investigator walks the crime scene after two bodies were removed from the scene outside of the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Investigators remove a body as they work a crime scene outside the Curtis Culwell Center after a shooting occurred the day before May 04, 2015 in Garland, Texas. During the "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest," an anti-Islam event, on May 03, Elton Simpson of Phoenix, Arizonia and another man opend fire, wounding a security guard . Police officers shot and killed Simpson at teh scene. (Photo by Ben Torres/Getty Images)
Event Hall Hosts Provocative Art Contest
The Curtis Culwell Center, a school-district owned public events space, was hosting a contest by the New York-based American Freedom Defense Initiative that would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
There is no word yet if the shooting is related to the contest.
The event featured speeches by American Freedom Defense Initiative president Pamela Geller and Geert Wilders, a Dutch lawmaker known for his outspoken criticism of Islam. Wilders received several standing ovations from the crowd and left immediately after his speech.
Wilders, who has advocated closing Dutch doors to migrants from the Islamic world for a decade, has lived under round-the-clock police protection since 2004.
Legal expert Don Peritz discusses the investigation into a shooting out an exhibit of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Garland Sunday.
Drawings such at the ones featured at the Texas event are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous.
Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association President Dr. Bilal Rana released a statement condemning the shooting.
"We stand by our fellow Americans in shock and horror at today's shooting," the statement read. "Our faith calls us to engage in dialogue. So we condemn any use of violence to intimidate anyone."
Garland police spokesman Joe Harn speaks on the shooting outside a Prophet Muhammad art event Sunday evening.
"Texas officials are actively investigating to determine the cause and scope of the senseless attack," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers remain with all those affected tonight."
