Dallas gunman was a 'target of a terror investigation'

Islamic State has claimed to be behind the attack in Dallas, Texas after two men opened fire at an exhibition of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad, according to AFP.

Reuters also reported that IS claimed responsibility, as the Syria and Iraq based terror group used its official online radio station to say "two soldiers of the caliphate" carried out the attack.

One of the gunmen shot dead after opening fire at an exhibition of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad had been under surveillance for nine years.

Court documents show that Elton Simpson, who was a room-mate of accomplice Nadir Soofi, had been under FBI surveillance since 2006 and was convicted in 2011 of lying to FBI agents over his desire to join violent jihad in Somalia.

Federal authorities began monitoring Simpson in 2006 because he was associated with an individual the FBI believed was trying to set up a terrorist cell in Arizona.

At one point, according to the documents, the FBI tried "unsuccessfully" to put Simpson on a US government no-fly list.

Simpson's father told ABC News his son was "always a good kid" but said they had "some very serious differences."

"We are Americans and we believe in America," Dunston Simpson told ABC News. "What my son did reflects very badly on my family."

The second gunman who attacked an exhibit ofcaricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a Dallas suburb has been identified as Nadir Soofi, the room-mate of the other shooter, Elton Simpson.

The New York Times and Washington Post quoted officials as saying that Soofi and Simpson opened fire on Sunday night. Both were killed by a police officer who was providing security for the event.

One of the gunmen who staged an attack at an exhibit of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in a Dallas suburb has been identified as Elton Simpson, an Arizona man previously the target of a terror investigation, ABC News said citing a senior FBI official.

The America network said FBI agents and a bomb squad were searching Simpson's Phoenix home overnight.

Texas police shot dead two gunmen who opened fire outside an exhibit of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad being held at an indoor arena in the suburb of Garland, northeast of Dallas.

Police said they had not immediately determined the identity of the two gunmen or whether they were linked to critics of the event who had branded it anti-Islamic.

A security officer who was shot in the leg by the two attackers was treated at a local hospital and later released. No one else was injured.

Bomb squad experts are searching for explosives in the car of two gunmen who were shot dead after opening fire on a security officer outside a contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Spokesman Joe Harn with the Garland Police Department said the bomb squad was searching the vehicle outside the Curtis Culwell Center as a "precaution."

He added that the bodies of the two gunmen, who are yet to be identified, have not yet been removed from the scene.

"Because of the situation of what was going on today and the history of what we’ve been told has happened at other events like this, we are considering their car possibly contains a bomb.”

The injuries suffered by the security guard during the Muhammad art event shooting in Garland are not life-threatening, the city authorities have confirmed.

The guard was shot when two men opened fire outside the Curtis Culwell Center where the event was coming to an end around 7pm. Police officers then shot both men dead.

Writing on its Facebook page, the City of Garland described how the shooting unfolded.

Dutch politician Geert Wilders had just finished making a speech at the Muhammad cartoon event in Texas moments before the shooting occurred.

Well-know for his controversial views on Islam, Wilders spoke about the incident via his Twitter account:

The event was organised by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which has previously campaigned against the building of an Islamic centre near the World Trade Center site in New York.

The AFDI's president, Pamela Geller, responded to the shooting, calling the attacker's "monsters".

Writing on the organisations' Facebook page, she said: "This is a war. This is war on free speech. What are we going to do? Are we going to surrender to these monsters?

"Two men with rifles and backpacks attacked police outside our event. A cop was shot; his injuries are not life-threatening, thank Gd. Please keep him in your prayers."

Two armed men who opened fire on a security officer outside a controversial US contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad have been killed.

A police Swat team member told the event in Garland, Texas, that a security guard and two suspects had been shot although it was not clear if the shootings were connected to the event.

Police then put the Curtis Culwell Center on lockdown and told participants not to leave.

Attendees were taken to another room, and the authorities said later that the group would be moved to a nearby school.

The New York-based American Defense Initiative was staging the competition which would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting Muhammad.

Cartoons of the prophet are deemed offensive to many Muslims and have provoked previous attacks and protests.

In 2006 there were demonstrations against Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten when it published cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

And in January this year two Islamist gunmen sparked worldwide revulsion when they murdered 12 people at the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had published similar cartoons.