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GARLAND, Texas/PHOENIX--Federal agents for years monitored one of the two gunmen who were shot dead after opening fire with assault rifles at a heavily guarded Texas exhibit of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.
Two government sources who asked not to be named said the shooters were roommates Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, of Phoenix. Court documents show that Simpson had been under surveillance since 2006 and convicted in 2011 of lying to FBI agents over his desire to join violent jihad in Somalia.
FBI agents and police searched the two men's home at the Autumn Ridge Apartments in north-central Phoenix, cordoning off the complex and evacuating residents for several hours in the early morning.
The shooting incident in the Dallas suburb of Garland was an echo of past attacks or threats in other Western countries against images depicting the Prophet Mohammad. In January, gunmen killed 12 people in the Paris offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in what it said was revenge for its cartoons.
The Texas incident unfolded on Sunday, when a car drove up behind an indoor arena in Garland, where 200 people were attending an event featuring caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad. Such portrayals are considered offensive by Muslims. Two men jumped out of the car and fired at a police car. A Garland police officer and an unarmed security guard had been sitting in the police car, which was blocking the entrance to the arena. The police officer returned fire and killed both men in the parking lot. The security guard was injured by the gunmen.
Those inside the Curtis Culwell Center, who had gone through heavy security to enter the event, were not aware of the attack until afterward.
Police and federal agents had planned security for months ahead of the event organized by American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), a free-speech organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has described as a hate group, and which paid $10,000 for extra protection. The event was called "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest" and offered a $10,000 prize for the best artwork or cartoon depicting the Prophet. Artist Bosch Fawstin won for a depiction of a sword-wielding Prophet in a turban shouting, "You can't draw me."
The AFDI has, among other activities, sponsored anti-Islamic advertising campaigns in transit systems across the country.
The shooters wore protective gear and had extra ammunition in their car, Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said. Police feared that there may have been explosives in the vehicle, but no bomb was found. "Obviously they were there to shoot people," Harn said at a news conference.
