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 The Syria- and Iraq-based Islamic State (IS) said on its official
online radio station that "two soldiers of the caliphate" carried
out the attack on Sunday in Garland, a suburb of Dallas.
The White House said it was too early to tell if the two gunmen
killed in Garland were tied to IS. Spokesman Josh Earnest said many
people tried to capitalize on the influence of the group by claiming
allegiance when they were not directly affiliated.
"At this point, this is still under investigation by the FBI and
other members of the intelligence community to determine any ties or
affiliations that these two individuals may have had with ISIL or
other terrorist organizations around the world. So it's too early to
say at this point," Earnest said.
U.S. officials said separately that investigators did not know
whether the group was opportunistically claiming credit when it had
little or no direct or indirect involvement.
One U.S. official said investigators believed it was possible, if
not likely, that IS played an "inspirational" rather than
"operational" role in the attack.
 That would mean the shooters may have immersed themselves in items
posted online by IS and other groups like al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula intended to incite violence but that the group played no
role in directing an attack on the Texas event.
U.S. investigators were going through the shooters' computers and
communications devices, officials said.
The State Department said on Tuesday it was offering rewards of up
to $7 million for information on four key leaders of the group
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
"MIGHT HAVE SNAPPED"
Authorities said roommates Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi of Phoenix
were fatally shot by a police officer when they opened fire with
assault rifles outside the cartoon exhibit and contest. An unarmed
security guard suffered a minor wound.
The Simpson family said in a statement late Monday it was struggling
to understand how it happened.
"We are heartbroken and in a state of deep shock as we grieve," it
said. "We send our prayers to everyone affected by this act of
senseless violence, especially the security guard who was injured in
the line of duty."
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Court documents showed Simpson had been under federal surveillance
since 2006 and was convicted in 2011 of lying to FBI agents about
his desire to join violent jihad in Somalia.
"I believe that perhaps he might have just snapped when he heard
about the cartoon contest," Kristina Sitton, a Phoenix attorney who
defended him in the case, told CNN.
Such portrayals are considered offensive by Muslims.
The shooting in Garland, an ethnic melting pot city of nearly a
quarter million people, was an echo of attacks or threats in other
Western countries against images depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
In another Dallas suburb, Richardson, police were investigating an
attack by two men on a worshipper leaving evening prayers at a
mosque on Monday.
"It is too early to say whether this was a hate crime or an
attempted robbery," said Richardson Police spokesman Sergeant Kevin
Perlich.
The man was treated on the scene for minor injuries.
Police and federal agents had planned security for months ahead of
the Garland event, organized by American Freedom Defense Initiative
(AFDI), a free-speech organization that the Southern Poverty Law
Center has described as a hate group.
(Additional reporting by Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Katharine Houreld in
Islamabad, David Schwartz in Phoenix, Arizona, and Julia Edwards in
Washington; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and
Ted Botha)
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