Two men were shot and killed in a parking lot outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas Sunday evening. Curtis Culwell Center is an event facility owned by the Garland Independent School District (ISD). Two gunman drove up and opened fire on the center, which was hosting a Muhammad Art exhibit, and hit a Garland ISD officer. The cartoon exhibit featured “images of Islam’s prophet, both historic and contemporary, and speeches by leading voices of freedom and internationally renowned free speech advocates,” according to a release from the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) that was hosting the event at Curtis Culwell Center. The suspects were reported to have had rifles and backpacks.
The ISD officer suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to a spokesman for Garland Police.
Police were searching the area for a report of a vehicle that contained explosives. A robotic bomb squad device was approaching a vehicle at about 8:30 p.m. CT.
SWAT members, who were already on standby and staged at the scene for the art event, are on the scene.
A 1,000-foot radius around the Walmart was shut down and the Academy Store nearby was evacuated. There is a report of a possibly suspect in the Walmart store. Rowlett/Sachse Scanner reported on Facebook that a suspect was inside a nearby Walmart, off Garland Avenue and Naaman Forest Boulevard, with a hand grenade.
Garland Independent School District is a public school district in Garland, Texas.
While in lockdown, audience breaks into song and prayer. National Anthem an God Bless America pic.twitter.com/ufgR8BOOpr
— Bob Price (@BobPriceBBTX) May 4, 2015
BREAKING: two ppl shot, Garland PD not saying who at this point, happened outside a AFDI Muhammad Art Exhibit @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/OHPUcSF50Y
— Jocelyn Lockwood (@JocelynNBC5) May 4, 2015
Supporting @PamelaGeller at the AFDI #Mohammed Art Exhibit contest at @gisdnews Curtis Culwell Center! #islamphobia pic.twitter.com/z7yyCBCihZ
— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) May 3, 2015
Police block of intersection #Garland, shooting and reports of explosives in a car pic.twitter.com/ZQSITWi2FE
— Stephanie Conway (@conway_steph) May 4, 2015
#BREAKING Update from SWAT Team Leader. @wfaachannel8 pic.twitter.com/HoF5f4bF7U
— Jobin Panicker (@jobinpnews) May 4, 2015
Garland, Texas is located less than 18 miles northeast of Dallas, Texas.
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