Police: No explosives found in car used in Texas attack

GARLAND, Texas (AP) — Federal agents searched an apartment in Phoenix as part of an investigation into a shooting outside a suburban Dallas venue hosting a provocative contest for Prophet Muhammad cartoons, the FBI confirmed Monday.

Police officers shot and killed two gunmen who opened fire on a security officer outside the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland on Sunday night. The security officer was wounded in the shooting.

Garland officer Joe Harn says the men had opened fire with assault rifles, and that one officer had fatally shot both gunmen. Harn also said investigators searched the men’s car and detonated several suspicious items, but no bombs were found in the vehicle.

The FBI said the Phoenix residence was being searched for indications of what prompted the attack, and FBI spokeswoman Katherine Chaumont said no other locations in Phoenix are being investigated.

Agents could be seen also searching a white Chevy minivan at the Autumn Ridge Apartments complex. They took what appeared to be plastic bottles out of the vehicle. The apartment is on the first floor of a two-story building. The area around the building is sealed off but residents walked about and stood on their balconies watching.

A federal law enforcement official has identified one of the suspects in the shooting as Elton Simpson. The official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, said investigators were searching Simpson’s property in connection with the case.

Court documents show a man by the name of Elton Simpson was convicted in 2011 in federal court in Phoenix of making a false statement by lying to an FBI agent in January 2010 about whether he had discussed traveling to Somalia. According to the documents, Simpson had discussed with an FBI informant a desire to travel to Somalia, but denied to an FBI agent that he’d had any such discussions.