U.S. officials are probing connections between terrorists abroad and the two men shot dead as they were trying to attack a free speech event in Texas over the weekend.
The authorities want to determine to what degree the attack was directed from abroad. One U.S. official told CNN, that the shooting was “certainly more than just inspiration” by ISIS but that assessment does not mean that the terror group gave the gunmen specific instructions.
The gunmen, who have since been identified as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, were roommates in Phoenix. They were foiled in their apparent plot after they drove to Texas and tried to attack a free speech event that was displaying cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad. They wounded a security guard before police shot and killed them.