FATAL EXPLOSION IN AUSTIN
Motive could be hate-related
Authorities investigate an explosion at a home in Austin, Texas, on Monday. Investigators believe the fatal explosion is linked to another deadly bombing elsewhere in the city this month, and they’re considering whether race was a factor.
Two people have been killed and three injured in three separate package explosions at homes in Austin, Texas, this month — crimes that have put the capital city on edge and prompted the police to warn residents not to even touch any unexpected packages.
Two of the blasts occurred on Monday just miles, and hours, apart, killing one person and injuring two others. The residents of the homes found a package outside their door that contained a powerful explosive device.
The police believe those attacks are connected to a deadly blast at another nearby Austin home on March 2.
Austin’s interim police Chief Brian Manley held two news conferences Monday, one after each explosion, warning residents not to touch, move or handle any unexpected or suspicious packages. “Call 911,” he said. “It’s appropriate for residents to be concerned.”
The investigation is in its early stages but “we do see similarities” among the three explosions, Chief Manley said.
The motives, though, are not yet known, and Chief Manley emphasized that the police are not ruling out any motive that links the cases. “We are willing to investigate any avenue,” he said, including the possibility of the attacks being hate-related, since the March 2 victim and the early morning victims on Monday were African-Americans. The victim in the second bombing of the day was Hispanic.
The earlier explosion Monday, which occurred on Oldfort Hill Drive, was reported by neighbors at 6:44 a.m., and the police and emergency services personnel arrived shortly after. They found the two injured victims: a 17-year-old boy, who later died, and a woman, whose injuries were not thought to be life-threatening. The package had been taken inside, where it exploded.
At 11:50 a.m., the Austin Police Department started to receive reports of a second explosion on nearby Galindo Street.
Similar to the earlier episode, the victim, this time a 75-year-old woman, came outside, found a package, picked it up and it exploded. Her injuries were significant, and she was in critical but stable condition as of Monday afternoon.
On March 2, Anthony Stephan House, 39, was killed when a package containing an explosive detonated at his Austin home. Both cases that resulted in deaths are being investigated as homicides, the authorities said.
“We heard the explosion; it sounded like fireworks,” said Amalia Martinez, 38, who lives with her son and daughter on Galindo Street, about four houses from Monday’s second blast site.
Her son, Angel Chavez, said he saw an older woman being taken in an ambulance. “Her clothes were burned,” he said.
Investigators do not believe that any of the packages were delivered by the Post Office, UPS, FedEx or DHL. Instead, they think they were dropped off at the homes overnight, to be discovered by residents in the morning.