Bombing suspect blows himself up as police fear other deadly devices
THE suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorised Austin, Texas, blew himself up as authorities closed in on him, but police have warned that more bombs could be out there.
The suspected serial bomber whose deadly packages terrified residents in the city for almost three weeks was identified by a law enforcement official as Mark Anthony Conditt.
The suspect’s motive remained a mystery, along with whether he acted alone in the five bombings in the Texas capital and suburban San Antonio that killed two people and wounded four others.
Authorities released few details about the suspect, except his age and that he was white.
Online postings indicate he was home schooled and attended Austin Community College from 2010 to 2012, according to a college spokeswoman, but he did not graduate.
A blogger who identified himself as Mark Conditt of Pflugerville described his interests as cycling, tennis and listening to music.
In blogs dated from 2012, he wrote that gay marriage should be illegal and called for the elimination of sex offender registrations.
The mayor of Pflugerville, an Austin suburb not far from the site of the first of four bombings, said the suspect lived in his city, just two streets from his house.
Pflugerville resident Jay Schulze said he was jogging on Tuesday night when he was stopped by police and asked about the bombings.
He said police flew drones over a home for about six hours between Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning. Mr Schulze described the home over which the drones were flying as “a weird house with a lot of people coming and going” and a bit rundown.
Austin was hit with four package bombings starting on March 2.
A fifth parcel bomb went off early on Tuesday at a Fedex distribution centre near San Antonio.
Citing a high-ranking law enforcement official, the Austin American-statesman reported that authorities had identified the suspect based largely on information, including security video, gleaned after he sent an explosive device from an Austin-area Fedex store.
Police warned yesterday of the possibility more bombs had yet to be found. “We don’t know where this suspect has spent his last 24 hours, and therefore we still need to remain vigilant to ensure no other packages or devices have been left to the community,” Mr Manley said.
Authorities initially believed the bombings may have been hate crimes because the victims of the earliest blasts were black, but they backed off that theory after Hispanic and white victims from different parts of the city were also affected.
Fred Milanowski, an agent with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), said it was “hard to say” if the bombing suspect had acted alone.
“What we do know is we believe the same person built each one of these devices,” said Mr Milanowski, the agent in charge of the Houston division of the ATF.
Asked if the suspect built bombs before the Austin attacks, Mr Milanowski said: “We know when he bought some of the components.
“It’s hard to say whether he was building along the way.”
Austin mayor Steve Adler thanked law enforcement for their work in bringing down the suspect and urged residents to continue to report anything that appeared suspicious or out of place.
Isaac Figueroa, 26, said he and his brother heard sirens and helicopters early yesterday in the area and drove towards them, then cut through nearby woods on foot after they hit a police roadblock.
Mr Figueroa said they saw a silver or grey Jeep Cherokee pinned between black and white vehicles and “looked like it had been rammed off the road”.
He said he saw police deploy a robot to go to examine the Jeep.
President Donald Trump, who had earlier said whoever was responsible for the Austin bombings was “obviously a very sick individual or individuals”, tweeted: “AUSTIN BOMBING SUSPECT IS DEAD. Great job by law enforcement and all concerned!”
We don’t know where the suspect spent his last 24 hours