Texas bomber’s change of tactics may hint at future plans

NEW YORK — The bombs were left on porches, then by the side of the road, then at a FedEx facility. The victims were black, then Hispanic, then white. The blasts happened in different parts of Austin, Texas, and then near San Antonio.

The seemingly zigzag work of an apparent serial bomber may be a sign that whoever is behind the attacks is determined to launch more of them.

“Successful serial murderers are determined, adaptable and cognizant of their surroundings, which allows them to learn from their mistakes, improve their abilities and implement new tactics to remain steps ahead of those searching for them,” said Enzo Yaksic, co-director of Northeastern University’s Atypical Homicide Research Group.

The suspect “could be engaging in these new behaviors in an attempt to challenge reports characterizing him as inexperienced and prove true those that reference his high level of sophistication.”

A bomb that went off early Tuesday at a package shipping facility was the fifth such explosion this month in a widening circle from Austin. Two people have been killed and five others injured. Hundreds of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies are on the case.

Randall Rogan, a Wake Forest University professor who is an expert on forensic linguistic analysis, said the person or people behind the explosions may get a thrill from evading capture.

“They’re learning. They’re feeling more and more confident,” said Randall Rogan, who worked with the FBI on the Unabomber case. “There it becomes a game of wits, who can outsmart the other.”

Though to the public it may seem a series of random blasts, authorities are tightly focused on any connections between the attacks in hopes of pinning down a profile of the killer. The sites and the people targeted might offer some link to the perpetrator, but absent a smoking gun video of someone dropping off a suspicious package, the bombs themselves may hold the greatest potential to unlock the mystery.

Mary Ellen O’Toole, a retired FBI agent and profiler who worked on the Unabomber and other bombing cases, and now heads the forensic science program at George Mason University, said because bombs require so many components, they increase the chance that whoever built them could leave a trace of themselves behind.

Investigators are “looking to see if they can determine a signature for the bomber,” she said.