GARLAND, Texas, May 5 (UPI) -- The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for an attack outside a Texas art show, calling the gunmen two of its soldiers.
The IS said the attack outside a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest was the work of two Al Khilafa soldiers.
IS claimed responsibility for the attack via a broadcast on its official radio channel and warned of more attacks to come.
Al Khilafa is how IS refers to its soldiers. The organization is also known as Daesh, ISIS or ISIL.
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The two gunmen, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, wounded a security guard before being shot and killed by police. The IS called Simpson and Soofi "brothers" The group called the men "two soldiers of the caliphate."
"We tell America that what is coming will be even bigger and more bitter, and that you will see the soldiers of the Islamic State do terrible things," the statement released by the group said.
Experts said this could be the first time the IS has claimed to carry out an attack on U.S. soil. There is no indication the IS in Iraq and Syria actually contacted the two gunmen, who both lived in Phoenix.
The report from the IS has not been independently confirmed.
According to an investigation by CBS Minnesota, 25-year-old Mujahid Miski played a crucial role in communicating via social media channels details about the attack moments before it happened.
"He played a very significant role... in terms of incitement and propagandizing," said David Ibsen, executive director of the Counter Terrorism Project.
Minski, whose real name is Muhammed Abdullahi Hassan, left Minnesota to join al-Shaab in 2008 and was indicted in 2009 on a terror charge. He has had over a dozen Twitter accounts suspended, but always comes back with a new account. In the past he has been proactive about encouraging followers on twitter to "kill Jews and behead a homeland security advisor."
Simpson, 30, one of the two gunmen fatally shot Sunday after allegedly opening fire outside the cartoon contest, was linked to a 2011 terror probe.
Garland Police said the two men drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center just before 7 p.m., where a "Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest" was taking place. The gunmen got out of the car and shot a security guard in the ankle before they were shot and killed by police. Traditional Islam condemns any depiction of Mohammed as blasphemy.
The security guard, 62-year-old Bruce Joiner, was taken to the hospital and later released.
Police detonated their own explosives in the suspects' car out of concern there might be an "incendiary device" in it. A SWAT team evacuated the center as well as nearby businesses.
Simpson and Soof, both Muslim, shared an apartment in Phoenix. In 2011, Simpson had been convicted of making false statements in a terror case and told an FBI informant he wanted to kill non-Muslims.
Simpson's family issued a statement through an attorney, saying the family was "heartbroken and in a state of shock." The statement added the family had no prior knowledge of the planned attack.
Soofi's mother told The Dallas Morning News her son had been religiously devout and politically active, but never gave an indication to violence.
"It's a punch in the gut," she said from her Houston home.
Authorities suspect Simpson was behind a Twitter message that went out shortly before the shooting claiming he and his "bro" were engaging in jihad, or holy war.
"May Allah accept us as mujahideen," the tweet said, using the hashtag "#texasattack."
Kate Stanton and Danielle Haynes contributed to this report.
