Two men who opened fire at a contest to draw Prophet Muhammad cartoons were shot dead by police Sunday night.
The gunmen, who have not been identified, drove up to the “Muhammed Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest” at the Culwell Event Center in North Garland, a Dallas suburb, got out of their car and opened fire, Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said.
The event, sponsored by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, invited cartoonists to send in cartoons of Prophet Muhammad. The group, considered anti-Muslim by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, said it specifically picked the venue because it hosted an event denouncing Islamophobia in January.
Police were already helping with security at the event; they fired back immediately, killing both gunmen. An unarmed security guard who was shot in the leg was treated and released from a hospital.
“The first suspect was shot immediately,” Garland Mayor Douglas Athas told CNN. “The second suspect was wounded and reached for his backpack. He was shot again. We have no other indication that anyone else was involved.”
Details about the gunmen — including their religion or motive — have not yet been released.
Depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are often considered blasphemous by Muslims. The two most recent attacks involving the prophet include the January shooting at the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a deadly shooting at free speech event in Copenhagen, Denmark, in February.
(h/t CNN)
