City: 2 gunmen killed outside Muhammad cartoon contest
From Conroe Courier Posted: Sunday, May 3, 2015 9:47 pm
City: 2 gunmen killed outside Muhammad cartoon contest
Members of the Garland Police Department stand inside the Curtis Culwell Center Sunday in Garland. A contest for cartoons depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in the Dallas suburb is on lockdown Sunday after authorities reported a shooting outside the building.
GARLAND – Authorities in a Dallas suburb say two armed men who opened fire on a security officer outside of a contest for cartoons depictions of the Prophet Muhammad have been killed.
The city of Garland said in a statement posted on its Facebook page Sunday night that two men drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center and began shooting at a security officer.
The statement says Garland Police Department officers engaged the gunmen, who were both shot and killed.
The statement doesn’t say whether the shooting was related to the event.
The statement says the gunmen’s vehicle may contain an “incendiary device.” A bomb squad is on scene.
Nearby businesses were evacuated.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative was hosting a contest that would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Garland Police Department spokesman Joe Harn declined to confirm the SWAT officer’s statements and said he had no details.
About 75 attendees were taken to another room. Later, a group of 48 people were escorted to a school bus. Authorities told attendees they would be taken to a nearby high school. A second group was set to be moved shortly after.
Johnny Roby of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was attending the conference. He told the AP he was outside the building when he heard around about 20 shots that appeared to be coming from the direction of a car passing by.
Roby said he then heard two single shots.
He said he heard officers yell that they had the car before he was sent inside the building.
The New York-based American Freedom Defense Initiative was hosting a contest that would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad at the venue.
Such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world. According to mainstream Islamic tradition, any physical depiction of the Prophet Muhammad — even a respectful one — is considered blasphemous.
In January, 12 people were killed by gunmen in an attack against the Paris office of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which had lampooned Islam and other religions and used depictions of Muhammad.
Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, said that she planned the Sunday event to make a stand for free speech in response to the outcries and violence over drawings of Muhammad.
