Trump makes it his priority to find ‘sick serial bomber’ after devices detonated
Hundreds of FBI are sent to Austin as a fifth package is exploded in FedEx depot in Texas, reports Clark Mindock
President Donald Trump has said that finding the “sick” people who have sent bombs to various locations in south central Texas is a top priority – and sought to reassure residents there is a heavy federal and local police presence tasked with putting an end to the series of attacks.
“We have a lot of power down there, it’s not easy to find,” Mr Trump said from the Oval Office, just hours after a fifth bomb was detonated in San Antonio. “We have to produce, we have to find these very sick people.”
The comments came as officials continue a desperate search for clues and answers after a sixth explosion was reported in Texas yesterday. Officials said soon after that the latest explosion “does not appear to be related” to the package bombings. Earlier yesterday, a fifth package in Texas was exploded within a FedEx depot, spreading more fear after two lives have already been claimed and four others injured in previous bombings. Nobody was hurt in the explosion at the FedEx factory.
Federal officials have swarmed to Austin, where four packages have been detonated this month in a series of attacks that police say are likely related and have become increasingly sophisticated. The package that was exploded yesterday outside of San Antonio was en route to Austin, and had originated in Austin, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton told local media.
But officials have provided little indication they are any closer to apprehending a suspect, and have repeatedly asked the public to come forward with any information that could end this string of bombings.
“We are clearly dealing with what we expect to be a serial bomber,” Brian Manley, Austin’s interim police chief, said on Monday during a press conference after the fourth explosion on Sunday night, which was detonated by a trip wire. “The belief that we are dealing with someone who is using trip wires shows a higher level of sophistication, a higher level of skill.”
Police have repeatedly warned residents to stay away from any suspicious package, and said that even going close to one could be dangerous due to a potential trip wire – which could be any sort of thin thread and difficult to see. Austin Police Department has received 1,257 calls from concerned residents who have received potentially suspect packages in the past eight days, according to a tweet from the department.
A $115,000 (£82,000) reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the people responsible for the explosions in Texas, which has led the FBI to send at least 300 agents to Austin, in what FBI special agent Christopher Combs said was an “unprecedented” threat response in the city.
Austin mayor Steve Adler said he thinks the explosion on Sunday has likely increased tension in the city, and that concern is justifiable even though he says residents should feel more secure because of the heavy response from police and federal agencies. “That concern is legitimate and real,” Mr Adler said on Monday. “That anxiousness is going to continue until we can find the answer.”
The first explosion occurred on 2 March, killing 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House after he brought a package in from his front porch. Mr House was taken to a nearby hospital but was later pronounced dead. At the time, police determined that the incident was an isolated event but said that the FBI and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting in an investigation.
Two more bombs hit the city on 12 March, which led Austin police to say that those three incidents were likely related. The first on that day killed 17-year-old Draylen Mason and injured his mother, after Mr Mason brought the package in from the front step of his home to his kitchen, where it detonated. The second bomb, hours later, injured a 75-year-old woman in a different part of the city. The most recent bombing, on Sunday, injured two bicyclists after they triggered a trip wire to detonate the device.