HATE CRIME FEARED AFTER STRING OF BOMBINGS KILL TWO PEOPLE IN TEXAS
Investigators believe a package bomb that killed a teenager and wounded a woman in Austin on Monday is linked to a similar bombing that killed a man in another part of the city this month, and they’re considering whether race was a factor because all of the victims were black.
The explosion Monday happened inside of a home and killed a 17-year-old boy and badly wounded a woman who is expected to survive, said police chief Brian Manley. The attack happened about 20 kilometres from the home where a March 2 package bombing killed 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House.
Manley said investigators believe the attacks are related, as in both cases, the packages were left overnight on the victims’ doorsteps and were not mailed or sent by a delivery service.
Manley said investigators haven’t determined a motive for the attacks.
“We do know that both of the homes that were the recipients of these packages belong to African-Americans, so we cannot rule out that hate crime is at the core of this. But we’re not saying that that’s the cause as well.”