Package bombs put Texas capital on edge with two dead, two injured
Two people have been killed and three injured in three separate package explosions at homes in Austin, Texas, this month — crimes that have put the capital city on edge and prompted the police to warn residents not to even touch any unexpected packages.
Two of the blasts occurred Monday just miles, and hours, apart, killing one person and injuring two others. The residents of the homes found a package outside their door that contained a powerful explosive device.
The police believe those attacks are connected to a deadly blast at another nearby Austin home on March 2.
The Austin interim police chief, Brian Manley, held two news conferences Monday, one after each explosion, warning residents not to touch, move or handle any unexpected or suspicious packages. “Call 911,” he said. “It’s appropriate for residents to be concerned.”
The investigation is in its early stages but “we do see similarities” among the three explosions, Manley said.
The motives, though, are not yet known, and Manley emphasized that the police are not ruling out any motive that links the cases. “We are willing to investigate any avenue,” he said, including the possibility of the attacks being haterelated, since the March 2 victim and the early morning victims Monday were African-Americans. The victim in the second bombing of the day is Hispanic.
The earlier explosion Monday, which occurred on Oldfort Hill Drive, was reported by neighbors at 6:44 a.m., and the police and emergency services personnel arrived shortly after. They found the two injured victims: a 17-yearold boy, who later died, and a woman, whose injuries were not thought to be life-threatening. The package had been brought inside, where it exploded.
At 11:50 a.m., the Austin Police Department started to receive reports of a second explosion on nearby Galindo Street.
Similar to the earlier episode, the victim, this time a 75-year-old woman, came outside, found a package, picked it up and it exploded. Her injuries were significant, and she was in critical but stable condition as of Monday afternoon.
On March 2, Anthony Stephan House, 39, was killed when a package containing an explosive detonated at his Austin home. Both cases that resulted in deaths are being investigated as homicides, the authorities said.
“We heard the explosion; it sounded like fireworks,” said Amalia Martinez, 38, who lives on Galindo Street, about four houses from Monday’s second blast site, with her son and daughter.
Her son, Angel Chavez, said he saw an older woman being taken in an ambulance. “Her clothes were burned,” he said.
The police knocked on doors and ordered residents to evacuate. Families remained out of their homes later in the day after the authorities sealed off the immediate neighborhood as part of their investigation. There was a large evacuation around the home on Oldfort Hill Drive as well.
The police were canvassing the neighborhoods and checking to see if any nearby residences had external video cameras.
The police confirmed that both explosions on Monday and the March 2 blast were all at residences and caused by “very powerful” improvised explosive devices, Manley said, adding that officials had not yet determined what was used in the explosives.
The chief said the department had received several calls about packages Monday and that it was prepared to handle all reports, even if it takes officials a while to arrive. The department is receiving support from explosive and canine teams from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and from the state Department of Public Safety as well as resources from nearby areas, he said.
No other nefarious packages had been discovered as of Monday afternoon, he said.
Investigators do not believe that any of the packages were delivered by the Post Office, UPS, FedEx or DHL. Instead, they think they were dropped off at the homes overnight, to be discovered by residents in the morning.
Officials did not have descriptions for the perpetrators or vehicles, but Manley said the person or people involved know how to build an explosive that detonates. He implored the community to come forward with any information.
A $15,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest, Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a statement Monday, adding that “the state of Texas will provide any resources necessary to ensure the safety of our citizens, and quickly bring those guilty to justice.”
As the gravity of the string of bombings sank in throughout normally tranquil neighborhoods, residents acknowledged a new fear.
“Now everybody’s on edge,” David Alvarado, 58, said as he stood amid scampering grandchildren in his front yard, just blocks from police barricades near Monday’s second explosion.