Police question Austin woman they think might have been bombing target,

East Austin resident Erica Mason, whose neighbor was injured in one of three recent package explosions that have gripped the city, talked to investigators Wednesday about whether she was related to the Mason family that was targeted in at least one of the bombings.

Mason, who is from Iowa, isn’t related to the Mason family that is prominent in Austin’s African-American community. But police have developed a theory that the bomber may have mistaken her for another member of the family.

If the theory proves true, the bomber then made two mistakes: targeting the wrong Mason and accidentally placing the package two doors down — at the house of Maria Moreno, whose 75-year-old daughter Esperanza Herrera was critically injured after picking it up.

“They basically just wanted to know if I was a relative or married to one of them, if I was in any way associated with the family,” Erica Mason told the American-Statesman. “If I was associated with the family, it could have been that they were trying to come after me.”

Mason said she feels “survivor’s guilt” for possibly being the target of a bomb that hurt Herrera, who she had seen in the past taking care of her mother but had not met.

“It is spooky, and I don’t know if it’s more terrifying that it could have happened to me or my boyfriend,” Erica Mason said, “and that it happened to this poor, sweet, innocent woman.”

The other two bombings both occurred at the homes of people connected to the Mason family of Austin.

Anthony House, the first person killed when a bomb exploded on his porch, is the son of the Rev. Freddie Dixon. Dixon is a close friend of Dr. Norman Mason, grandfather of 17-year-old Draylen Mason, who was killed Monday morning in a package bomb attack that also injured his mother.

Erica Mason, who is from Iowa, isn’t related to the Mason family that is prominent in Austin’s African-American community. But police have developed a theory that the bomber may have mistaken her for another member of the family.

RICARDO B. BRAZZIELL / AMERICAN-STATESMAN Authorities on Tuesday continue to investigate Monday’s package bomb attack in the 4800 block of Oldfort Hill Drive in Austin that killed 17-year-old Draylen Mason and injured his mother.