New explosions rattle Texas
Unrelated blast comes after morning FedEx bomb
AUSTIN, Texas — Emergency teams rushed last night to another reported explosion in Austin — this one at a Goodwill store — but police and federal authorities said the blast wasn’t related to recent bombings that have killed and injured people and caused panic across Texas’ capital for weeks.
Police and emergency response teams said an “incendiary device” exploded, injuring a man in his 30s. Nearby stores, shopping centers and restaurants were evacuated. But police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said a short time later that it was unrelated to the previous blasts.
Gary Davis, president and CEO of Goodwill Texas, stood outside a police barrier huddling with other Goodwill employees. He said the device was contained in a bag and detonated when a worker moved it.
“We put all the donations we get in a big cardboard box. He pulled something out in a bag, completely normal, and the device went off,” Davis said.
He added: “In this town, if an incendiary device goes off, everybody just scatters and panics. We’re all on edge.”
That incident came as investigators who have pursued a suspected serial bomber terrorizing Austin for weeks uncovered what seemed like valuable new leads.
Even before the report of last night’s explosion, it had already been a busy day. Before dawn, a bomb inside a package exploded around 1 a.m. as it passed along a conveyer belt at a FedEx shipping center near San Antonio, causing minor injuries to a worker. The Austin Police Department, the FBI and other federal agencies confirmed that the package center blast was related to four previous ones that killed two people and seriously injured four others.
That explosion occurred at a FedEx facility in Schertz, northeast of San Antonio and about 60 miles southwest of Austin.
The event added to the widening fears of more strikes like those that have already killed two people and wounded four in the last few weeks.
“It would be silly for us not to admit that we suspect it’s related” to the other four Austin bombings since March 2, FBI Agent Michelle Lee said.
She did not have details about the size, weight or description of the package.
The package was on a conveyer belt when it detonated. One worker reported ringing in her ears. She was treated and released from a hospital.
Before it exploded, the package had been sent from Austin and was addressed to a home in Austin, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told Austin television station KXAN.
Investigators also closed off an Austin-area FedEx store where they believe the package bomb was sent to the distribution center. Authorities roped off a large area around the shopping center in the enclave of Sunset Valley.