GARLAND — A full day after the shooting that shook Garland and reverberated around the world, a burned-out car has finally been towed from the Curtis Culwell Center.
That vehicle has been the centerpiece of the FBI investigation into a failed attempt to take lives at an anti-Muslim art show on Sunday evening.
It remains unclear whether a Garland police officer or a member of the department's SWAT team killed the two gunmen who crossed state lines to target opponents.
Police say the suspects — Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi — lived together in Phoenix. Federal agents conducted an aggressive search of their apartment on Monday. Simpson has a long history with the FBI.
After nearly 26 hours, the burned-out vehicle that apparently brought the pair from Arizona to the Curtis Culwell Center was taken away by a wrecker.
FBI evidence teams had meticulously combed every inch around it.
"We're as far from Ground Zero as you can be," Mayor Douglas Athas said.
His city of 235,000 people was instantly placed in an international spotlight following Sunday night's gunfire. But Athas confidently declares that Garland is a diverse city that is open to all.
He said what happened came as a shock, and he was unaware of any social media undercurrents that could have foreshadowed the violence at the cartoon competition to depict the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
"We would have had some sort of evidence to pull the plug, and we didn't have that," Athas said.
The mayor added that he has no control over the event center, which is owned by the Garland Independent School District. He said it is the district's decision what events are held at the facility.
"Will I have a conversation with the school district, the trustees, the superintendent? I've already had that conversation," Athas said, adding that he will continue to have informal conversations about its use.
A wrecker came to claim the suspects' car just after 6 o'clock Monday evening. With the vehicle gone, the road in front of the Culwell Center reopened to traffic shortly before 8 p.m.
"At the end of the day, we want our citizens to be safe at all times," the mayor said.
