Suspect in Austin serial bomb attacks identified

us: Man blows himself up as Swat team closes in

The suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorised Austin, Texas, blew himself up as authorities closed in on him, but police have warned that more bombs could be out there.

The man behind the attacks was identified as Mark Anthony Conditt, an unemployed 24-year-old who bought bomb-making materials at Home Depot.

His motive remained a mystery, along with whether he acted alone in the five bombings in the Texas capital and suburban San Antonio that killed two people and wounded four others.

Police zeroed in on Conditt using store surveillance video, mobile phone signals and witness accounts of a strangelooking customer making purchases while wearing a disguise that included a blonde wig and gloves.

Officers located his vehicle at a hotel on Interstate 35 in the suburb of Round Rock.

They were waiting for armoured vehicles to arrive before moving in for an arrest when his vehicle began to drive away, Austin police chief Brian Manley said at a news conference. Authorities followed the vehicle, which ran into a ditch on the side of the road, he said.

When members of the Swat team approached, the suspect detonated an explosive device inside the vehicle, the police chief said.

A law enforcement official provided the dead man’s name.

Investigators released few details about Conditt, except his age and that he was white. Online postings indicate he was home schooled.

He later attended Austin Community College from 2010 to 2012, according to a college spokeswoman, but he did not graduate.

In posts dated from 2012, a blogger who identified himself as Mark Conditt of suburban Pflugerville wrote that gay marriage should be illegal. He also called for the elimination of sex offender registrations and argued in favour of the death penalty. He listed his interests as cycling, tennis and listening to music.

The mayor of Pflugerville, which is not far from the site of the first bombing, said the suspect lived in his city, two streets from his house.

Picture: Getty. The vehicle that suspect Mark Anthony Conditt was driving when he blew himself up is towed from the scene in Austin.