Law enforcement officials identified the suspected Austin bomber who blew himself up as police converged on him as 24-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt of suburban Pflugerville, where he lived with two roommates.
Pflugerville Mayor Victor Gonzales said Conditt lived in his city, about 17 miles northeast of the capital and near the site of where a package bomb killed a 39-year-old man on March 2 – the first of four bombs.
Police tracked Conditt to a hotel in Round Rock, a city in the Austin metropolitan area, using a variety of tactics — including cell phone triangulation — and surveillance video from an Austin FedEx, NBC News reported.
They tracked his car until he pulled over on Interstate 35 about 3 a.m. EST and “detonated a bomb inside the vehicle, knocking one of our SWAT officers back,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. The officer suffered minor injuries, he said.
Another SWAT team member fired and, as is standard practice, has been placed on administrative duty pending an investigation, Manley said.
“The suspect is deceased and has significant injuries from a blast that occurred from detonating a bomb inside his vehicle,” he added.
Police , FBI and personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the scene, the ATF said in a tweet early Wednesday.
Jay Schulze, who has lived in the neighborhood for 13 years, said he was out jogging Tuesday night when he was stopped by police and asked about the bombings.
He said there has been a large police presence in the neighborhood and that that authorities flew drones over a home from about 9 p.m. Tuesday until about 3 a.m. Wednesday.
He 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.
Investigators who accessed Conditt’s Google search history found he had been looking up other addresses in Austin and the surrounding areas, a law enforcement official told the Austin American-Statesman.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were sent late Tuesday to two homes in the Cedar Park area to check front porches and notify residents that they may be in danger, according to the paper.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Fox News that Conditt’s roommates have been cooperating with authorities.
“I would venture to say those two roommates are not at this time suspects,” Abbott said.
The governor said investigators are trying to determine whether Conditt manufactured the explosive devices at the hotel where he was found.
“That would be the possibility, but again we can’t say with specificity whether there was one or multiple locations where he was building the bombs,” he said.
Police shared the footage showing a man believed to be Conditt entering the FedEx facility wearing what appeared to be a blond wig and gloves as he dropped off two packages.
Officials said that although Conditt is believed to have acted alone, they urged residents to be careful.
“This is the culmination of three very long weeks for our community,” Manley said. “We don’t know where the 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 in the community.”
ATF Special Agent in Charge Fred Milanowski told The Wall Street Journal that investigators identified the suspect using basic police techniques.
“There were several small pieces that all came together,” he said Wednesday morning. “It was purchases. It was some video. It was witness statements that all came together.”
After the second bombing, on March 12, the ATF identified a “signature” in the explosive devices,” he told the Journal.
“Forensically they were very similar. Same explosive filler was used in all of them,” he said, adding that all of them contained nails and screws as shrapnel.
He added that all the devices appeared to be the work of a single bomb maker.
“We believe that the same person built each of these devices,” he said, he said.
Authorities said they are investigating a motive and whether any accomplices helped the suspect.
The bombings began March 2, when a package exploded in northeast Austin, killing a 39-year-old man.
A pair of packages exploded 10 days later in another neighborhood, leaving a 17-year-old dead and two other people wounded. On Sunday night, two men were badly injured by a blast in a wealthy enclave near the city.
Mona Henson, a Round Rock resident who works at a IHOP off the portion of I-35 shut down by police, said she was relieved by the outcome.
“I’m glad it’s over,” she told the Wall Street Journal and wondered whether she might have met the bomber at some point.
“You wonder, did I wait on him? Did I see him? Do I know this person?” she said.
NY Post.com
Pflugerville Mayor Victor Gonzales said Conditt lived in his city, about 17 miles northeast of the capital and near the site of where a package bomb killed a 39-year-old man on March 2 – the first of four bombs.
Police tracked Conditt to a hotel in Round Rock, a city in the Austin metropolitan area, using a variety of tactics — including cell phone triangulation — and surveillance video from an Austin FedEx, NBC News reported.
They tracked his car until he pulled over on Interstate 35 about 3 a.m. EST and “detonated a bomb inside the vehicle, knocking one of our SWAT officers back,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. The officer suffered minor injuries, he said.
Another SWAT team member fired and, as is standard practice, has been placed on administrative duty pending an investigation, Manley said.
“The suspect is deceased and has significant injuries from a blast that occurred from detonating a bomb inside his vehicle,” he added.
Police , FBI and personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the scene, the ATF said in a tweet early Wednesday.
Jay Schulze, who has lived in the neighborhood for 13 years, said he was out jogging Tuesday night when he was stopped by police and asked about the bombings.
He said there has been a large police presence in the neighborhood and that that authorities flew drones over a home from about 9 p.m. Tuesday until about 3 a.m. Wednesday.
He 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.
Investigators who accessed Conditt’s Google search history found he had been looking up other addresses in Austin and the surrounding areas, a law enforcement official told the Austin American-Statesman.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were sent late Tuesday to two homes in the Cedar Park area to check front porches and notify residents that they may be in danger, according to the paper.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told Fox News that Conditt’s roommates have been cooperating with authorities.
“I would venture to say those two roommates are not at this time suspects,” Abbott said.
The governor said investigators are trying to determine whether Conditt manufactured the explosive devices at the hotel where he was found.
“That would be the possibility, but again we can’t say with specificity whether there was one or multiple locations where he was building the bombs,” he said.
Police shared the footage showing a man believed to be Conditt entering the FedEx facility wearing what appeared to be a blond wig and gloves as he dropped off two packages.
“This is the culmination of three very long weeks for our community,” Manley said. “We don’t know where the 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 in the community.”
ATF Special Agent in Charge Fred Milanowski told The Wall Street Journal that investigators identified the suspect using basic police techniques.
“There were several small pieces that all came together,” he said Wednesday morning. “It was purchases. It was some video. It was witness statements that all came together.”
After the second bombing, on March 12, the ATF identified a “signature” in the explosive devices,” he told the Journal.
“Forensically they were very similar. Same explosive filler was used in all of them,” he said, adding that all of them contained nails and screws as shrapnel.
He added that all the devices appeared to be the work of a single bomb maker.
“We believe that the same person built each of these devices,” he said, he said.
Authorities said they are investigating a motive and whether any accomplices helped the suspect.
The bombings began March 2, when a package exploded in northeast Austin, killing a 39-year-old man.
A pair of packages exploded 10 days later in another neighborhood, leaving a 17-year-old dead and two other people wounded. On Sunday night, two men were badly injured by a blast in a wealthy enclave near the city.
Mona Henson, a Round Rock resident who works at a IHOP off the portion of I-35 shut down by police, said she was relieved by the outcome.
“I’m glad it’s over,” she told the Wall Street Journal and wondered whether she might have met the bomber at some point.
“You wonder, did I wait on him? Did I see him? Do I know this person?” she said.
NY Post.com
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