BOMB SQUAD, SWAT TEAM HONORED FOR BOMBINGS WORK
Austin bomber Mark Conditt had planned a suicidal ambush for authorities as they closed in on him, interim Police Chief Brian Manley said, but SWAT officers pressed ahead in trying to arrest him.
For the danger they faced in those final moments on March 21 and in the days leading up to Conditt’s death, Austin police bomb squad and SWAT team members received high honors Thursday.
“Lives were lost and impacted, and we were facing an attack on our community like one we’ve never had before,” Manley said. “When our community was at its worst, when it was under attack, law enforcement was at its best.”
Austin’s SWAT team members were honored with the Medal of Valor and bomb squad members were given the Meritorious Unit Citation of Valor. Family members and friends of officers attended the ceremony at City Hall.
The event also recognized personnel from outside agencies, including Houston and San Antonio police and the Texas Department of Public Safety, which assisted Austin police with expertise and additional officers.
For 19 days starting March 2, Conditt placed bombs — some disguised as packages left on doorsteps, one set off by a trip wire — throughout the city and set the community on edge. The devices killed 39-year-old Anthony House and 17-year-old Draylen Mason and injured five others.
Austin’s bomb squad worked around the clock to stop the next attack, often getting just four or five hours of rest, Lt. Courtney Renfro told the American-Statesman in March. Thousands of calls about suspicious packages kept the squad busy, with roughly 2,500 reports coming in the first few weeks after the third attack March 12.
“My bomb technicians, likewise, stayed on their phones with their contacts for hours and hours ... responding to these thousands
of calls,” Renfro said.
Two months later, the number of calls is still not back to normal, but it has decreased since the bombings, Assistant Police Chief Frank Dixon said.
Usually, the bomb squad responds to one or two calls for suspicious packages a month.
Dixon said residents are now taking their time to review packages delivered to their homes, adding that Conditt “really terrorized the city and really instilled
some panic.” The investigation into the bombings is ongoing, Dixon said. Investigators are still combing through evidence, which includes data from computers and electronics.
Manley said that, after looking at police video footage, he believes Conditt intended to injure the officers when authorities cornered him March 21.
“He waited for the officers, members of the SWAT team, to get up to the side of his vehicle and attempt to take him into custody before det- onating that bomb that ultimately took his life,” Manley said, “and it is my belief that he waited in an attempt to try and take officers out
with him.”