Explosion adds to Austin bomb fears
Explosion at FedEx facility could signal change of tactics for serial bomber who has terrorized city.
SCHERTZ, Texas — The latest in a wave of explosions that have rattled central Texas brought the widening investigation to this city outside San Antonio on Tuesday, after an explosion at a FedEx facility signaled that whoever was responsible for bombings in Austin had offered police potentially new clues while again shifting tactics.
The blast came as investigators have struggled to explain the bombing campaign that began with a series of packages placed at people’s doorsteps, escalated to a tripwire-enabled device left along a road and, on Tuesday, shifted to an explosive shipped through a delivery company. The same person who shipped that explosive also sent another package that was turned over to the FBI, according to FedEx.
Meanwhile, authorities in Austin responded to an explosion Tuesday night at a Goodwill store in the southern part of the city. Austin-Travis County EMS tweeted that at least one person was injured. Police later said it was an incendiary device.
Police have described the suspect as a “serial bomber” showing sophistication and skill, and this week’s explosions have also suggested a worrisome — and unusual — willingness to change gears while dispatching explosives.
The blast in Schertz occurred around 1 a.m. Tuesday while on an automated conveyor belt at a FedEx center about an hour south of Austin, which has been the focus of the blasts. One employee at the center said it caused ringing in her ears, but no one else was wounded, police said.
The bomb in Schertz was heading to Austin, according to police.
Michael Hansen, the Schertz police chief, said investigators were “confident that neither this (FedEx) facility nor any location in the Schertz area was the target.”
Investigators also searched a FedEx facility in the Austin enclave city of Sunset Valley, where the package that detonated in Schertz would likely have been sent next, looking to see if they could find similar packages there, according to one person familiar with the investigation.
Officials removed a second package suspecting it contained an explosive device. The FBI confirmed it did. They added that both the intercepted package and the one that exploded were believed linked to the previous blasts.
The suspect “is not stupid. He’s being diversified in his methods and attacks, and may have done this before somewhere,” said Malcolm Brady, a retired explosives investigator at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
“It’s a big jigsaw puzzle, and you put all the pieces of information together and go from there,” he said.
President Donald Trump said the federal government is working “hand in hand” with local authorities to “get to the bottom” of the bombings.
The first three bombs were in packages dropped off at people’s homes, authorities said. But the fourth bomb was placed on the side of the road in a neighborhood and rigged with a tripwire, so when it detonated Sunday night, two men walking through the area were wounded.
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