A police spokesman for a Dallas suburb of Garland says authorities are searching for explosives in the car of two gunmen who opened fire on a security officer outside a contest for cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH ).
According to City of Garland statement, posted on its Facebook page Sunday night those two men drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center and began shooting at a security officer.
The event named “Muhammad (PBUH )Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest” was underway at Curtis Culwell Centre in Texas city of Garland, when two people came out of their car and started firing in the parking lot, said Garland Mayor Douglas Athas ,according to CNN report.
The New York-based American Freedom Defense Initiative had been hosting a contest at the center that would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH ). Such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of Islam and have sparked violence around the world.
The shooting comes four months after gunmen killed 12, including 8 journalists at the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo which had published Prophet’s cartoons.
The attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris had sparked worldwide concern, triggering a debate over the free speech.