Elon Musk Claims Austin Shooter Who Killed Three Was Fired From Tesla After 'Violent' Prayer Rug Assault

Elon Musk has claimed that the gunman responsible for killing three people outside an Austin bar in March 2026 was previously fired from Tesla after allegedly assaulting a female employee who accidentally stepped on his prayer rug.

Speaking in a video shared online, Musk identified the attacker as a former worker at Tesla's Austin factory and alleged that the workplace incident occurred in December 2025, just months before the deadly shooting.

The claims add a further allegations to the case, although the precise circumstances of the alleged assault and dismissal have not been independently established.

Musk Describes Alleged Prayer Rug Assault

Musk said the man had been working at Tesla's Austin facility until December, when an encounter involving a woman and a prayer rug allegedly turned violent.

According to Musk, the employee was praying inside the factory when a woman inadvertently stepped onto the rug, apparently unaware that anyone was praying there. Musk alleged that the man responded by physically attacking her.

He described the incident as a violent assault and claimed that Tesla dismissed the worker because of his behaviour. The billionaire then connected the alleged workplace confrontation to the shooting several months later.

His account appears to concern Ndiaga Diagne, the 53-year-old gunman identified by federal investigators as responsible for the attack.

However, Musk's statement does not establish that the earlier incident predicted the subsequent shooting or that the two events were causally connected.

Tesla Worker Filed Lawsuit Over Earlier Attack

The workplace allegation was already the subject of legal proceedings before Musk's latest comments.

In March, Tesla employee Lillian Mendoza Brady filed an amended complaint in Travis County District Court alleging that Diagne had assaulted her during a sanctioned prayer break at a company facility.

Brady, then 65, accused Tesla of negligence, alleging that the company failed to protect her despite concerns about Diagne's behaviour. Her complaint sought more than $1 million in damages.

The filing provides a separate documented basis for the allegation that a workplace assault occurred, but its claims remain allegations rather than judicial findings.

The available complaint account does not independently establish Musk's specific explanation that Brady accidentally stepped on a prayer rug or confirm the circumstances of Diagne's dismissal.

Those details therefore remain attributable to Musk.

Three Killed in Austin Bar Shooting

The shooting occurred during the early hours of 1 March outside Buford's Backyard Beer Garden on West Sixth Street in downtown Austin. According to the FBI, Diagne opened fire from his vehicle before continuing the attack on foot with a rifle.

Three victims died, and 15 others were injured.

Police officers responding to the scene shot Diagne, who died from his injuries.

The FBI subsequently determined that he acted alone and found no evidence that a foreign terrorist organisation had directed, funded or supported the attack. Investigators also said they had not conclusively established why he selected the location.

Musk used his account to question immigration policy, arguing that people capable of such violence should not have been admitted to the United States. However, the FBI confirmed that Senegal-born Diagne became a naturalised American citizen in April 2013.

Musk's remarks raise questions about the alleged workplace incident and its aftermath, but they do not establish that Tesla could have anticipated or prevented the later attack.