Austin remembers bombing victims
Austin police and city leaders gathered at City Hall on Thursday, a year to the day when authorities stopped a serial bomber who terrorized the community, to honor those affected by the attacks and the law enforcement agencies that helped bring him down.
The 19-day terror spree in the city came to an end last year on March 21, when the Austin bomber blew himself up along Interstate 35 in Round Rock as authorities closed in to arrest him.
City leaders observed a moment of silence for those killed in the first two explosions, 17-year-old Draylen Mason and 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House, and those who survived two other blasts, including Esperanza “Hope” Herrera, who was critically injured at an East Austin home, and two men injured in Southwest Austin.
“Let today be a day of remembrance for those that were so personally touched by this incident or those lives that were lost,” said Austin Police Chief Brian Manley, who led the investigation into the bombings as then-interim chief.
At Manley’s side were representatives from the city, state and federal agencies that assisted in the response, investigation and takedown of the bomber.
“I am proud of the response that we had as a law enforcement community to what was an unprecedented attack on not only our city but really any city across this country and how law enforcement came together,” Manley said.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler recalled the tension of the days leading up to the bomber’s death last year.
“You could feel in those 10 days near the end that our community was beginning to fray, as people were dealing with the uncertainty,” he said. “Through all of that, we had a community that was pulling together, a community that was looking out for one another.”