Serial bomber gets inventive
Austin bombings by the numbers
UNITED STATES: Fear is mounting across Texas’s capital after a fourth bombing this month – a blast triggered this time by a nearly invisible tripwire, demonstrating what police have called a ‘‘higher level of sophistication’' than the package bombs used in previous attacks.
Two men were wounded in the explosion on Monday as they walked near a residential street. The three earlier bombings since March 2 involved parcels that were left on doorsteps and blew up when moved or opened, killing two people and wounding two others.
‘‘We are clearly dealing with what we believe to be a serial bomber at this point,’' Police Chief Brian Manley said, citing similarities among the four bombs. He would not elaborate.
The latest blast occurred in a different part of Austin, and both wounded men were white. The victims in the earlier attacks were black or Hispanic.
Thad Holt, 76, said he was now watching his steps as he made his way through a section of town near the latest attack. ‘‘I think everybody can now say, ‘Oh, that’s like my neighbourhood’.’'
Manly said investigators had yet to establish a motive. ‘‘Is this terrorism? Is this hate-related?’'
For days, Austin police have been warning people not to touch unexpected or suspicious-looking packages, a chilling thought since doorstep deliveries are more common than ever because of the rise of online shopping. With the latest bombing, though, the attacks have taken on an even more sinister cast.
Manley said the tripwire design required a higher level of skill to construct, and represented a ‘‘significant change’'. While the earlier bombings appeared to have been targeted, the latest one would have hurt anyone who happened to be walking by, he said.
‘‘The game went up a little bit – well, it went up a lot yesterday with the tripwire,’' said Christopher Combs, the FBI agent in charge of the bureau’s San Antonio division.
‘‘We’re very concerned that with tripwires, a child could be walking down a sidewalk and hit something.’'
Hundreds of agents from the FBI and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have joined the investigation, and the reward for information leading to an arrest has climbed to US$115,000 (NZ$159,000).
Fred Milanowski, agent in charge of the Houston division of the ATF, said the latest explosive device was anchored to a metal yard sign near the head of a hiking trail.
‘‘It was a thin wire or filament, kind of like fishing line. It would have been very difficult for someone to see.’'
Milanowski said authorities had checked more than 500 leads since the bombings began, and there had been ‘‘persons of interest’' in the cases, though they had so far not led to much.
Police have asked anyone with surveillance cameras at their homes to come forward with the footage, on the chance that it captured suspicious vehicles or people.
The latest victims, aged 22 and 23, suffered what police called significant injuries, and remain hospitalised in a stable condition.
The attack happened in the southwestern Austin neighbourhood of Travis Country, far from the sites of the earlier bombings, which took place east of Interstate 35 and killed a 39-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy and wounded two other people.
The highway has traditionally been seen as a dividing line between the city’s more affluent west side and more heavily minority areas to its east. This gave rise to suspicions from police early on that the attacks might be racially motivated.
Spring break ended yesterday for the University of Texas and many area school districts. University police have warned returning students to be alert and to tell their classmates about the danger, saying: ‘‘We must look out for one another.’' None of the four attacks happened close to the campus near the heart of Austin.
The PGA’s Dell Technologies Match Play golf tournament is scheduled to begin in Austin tomorrow, and dozens of the world’s top golfers are due to begin arriving.
Fear has spread well beyond the blast site. ‘‘This makes me sick,’' said Andrew Zimmerman, 44, a coffee shop worker on the west side.
He said the use of a tripwire added a ‘‘new level’' of suspected professionalism that made it harder to guard against such attacks. ‘‘That’s what scares me a little bit.’’
UPS and FedEx alone made more than 3.2 billion deliveries to US homes last year, more than double the number just 10 years ago, according to industry research firm ShipMatrix.
Erin Mays, 33, recently moved from Los Angeles to the Austin area. She said she routinely received six to eight packages delivered to her door every week, and also used grocery delivery services. ‘‘Everybody talks about how dangerous LA is and Austin is supposed to be safer. It’s creepy,’' Mays said. –AP The series of bombings this month in Austin has generated a vast response by state and federal law enforcement agencies, which are sifting through hundreds of tips to find what Austin Police Chief Brian Manley has described as a serial bomber.
Here’s a look at the investigation so far, by the numbers:
❚ Number of people killed and the number wounded. The first explosion occurred on March 2, killing a 39-year-old man. A 17-year-old boy was killed and two women were injured in two separate blasts on March 12. The latest happened on Monday, injuring two men, aged 22 and 23.
❚ The number of leads that have been closed since the bombings began, according to Fred Milanowski, special agent in charge of the Houston division of the ATF.
❚ Reward being offered for a tip leading to a conviction.
❚ Number of FBI agents currently involved in the investigation, according to FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs. Hundreds of other law enforcement personnel also are involved, including those with Austin police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
❚ Approximate number of interviews conducted with witnesses, people calling in tips and others since the first explosion.
❚ Calls that Austin police have responded to involving suspicious packages since the second and third blasts happened on March 12.