Two Gunmen 'Carrying Explosives' Attack Anti-Muslim Art Contest In Texas: Suspects Dead And Cop Wounded At 'Draw Muhammad' Event That Offered $10k Prize
May 3, 2015
Two armed suspects believed to be carrying explosives have been shot dead after opening fire outside an anti-Muslim art exhibition in Dallas.
The pair were gunned down after shooting a officer in the leg outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, during a 'family event' where caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were being displayed.
The building and surrounding area was placed on lockdown by a SWAT team with hundreds of attendees still inside after multiple gunshots were heard.
Heavily armed police secure art work inside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, after two suspects opened fire at a police officer before they were shot dead
A policeman keeps members of the audience inside after the shots were fired. Two explosives were also said to have been left near the building
No one was allowed to leave as surrounding businesses, including a Wal-Mart and Taco Bell, were evacuated as authorities searched for two more devices.
Two suspects pulled up in a vehicle with with explosives, before getting out and firing at the officer, identified in local reports as Bruce Joiner.
He was taken to hospital in a stable condition and is expected to survive.
The attack unfolded shortly after Dutch member of parliament and leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders, had delivered his keynote speech.
In 2009, he sparked controversy for showing a controversial film which linked the Koran to terrorism and has previously said the Netherlands is being taken over by a 'tsunami of Islamisation'.
Pamela Geller, the organizer, told
CBS 11 from inside the building: 'I heard officers talking of possible explosions in backpacks and the car. There was talk of a grenade at the nearby Wal-Mart.'
The event was set up by the American Freedom Defense Initiative and had been described by opponents as an attack on Islam.
The organizers believed they were exercising their freedom of expression.
According to the
Dallas Morning News, the contest, which was offering a top prize of $10,000, had received about 350 entries depicting Muhammad.
Visual representation of the prophet is deemed extremely offensive by Muslims.
Dutch member of parliament and leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders, had just delivered the keynote address inside the exhbition when the deadly incident unfolded
The event was set up by the American Freedom Defense Initiative and had been described by opponents as an attack on Islam
An officer prevents two people from leaving the building as the area is placed on lockdown
Members of the Garland Police Department are stand guard inside the Curtis Culwell Center in the aftermath of the shooting
An audience member is told to wait after Wilders finished his speech. Attendees were transferred to the parking lot of a nearby high school
The crowd took out their cellphones to record the armed officer giving them orders
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