They finally got the guy.
AUSTIN BOMBING SUSPECT IS DEAD. Great job by law enforcement and all concerned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2018
A suspect in a wave of bombings that terrorized Austin killed himself Wednesday with an explosion inside his car as authorities closed in, police in Texas said, ending a manhunt but leaving investigators scrambling to determine whether any bombs remain and if he acted alone.
He’s been identified as Mark Anthony Conditt, according to a source with direct involvement in the investigation.
The man, whom police didn’t name publicly, detonated a bomb in his vehicle early Wednesday on the side of Interstate 35 in Round Rock, north of Austin, as SWAT team members approached him, authorities said.
Investigators believe he is responsible for thefive explosions that killed two people and injured five others in Austin or south-central Texas since March 2, authorities said. They also warned a wary public not to let down their guard.
“We don’t know where this suspect has spent his last 24 hours, and therefore we still need to remain vigilant to ensure that no other packages or devices have been left throughout the community,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said.
Latest developments
• The suspect is white and 24 years old, Manley said, without naming him or saying where he lived.
• Surveillance video shows this man, wearing gloves and a cap, taking two packages into a FedEx store in the south Austin area, Mayor Steve Adler said. CNN affiliate WOAI published those surveillance images, which the station said were recorded Sunday.
• “Police say that they used that (video) as the final piece to put all of this together, really in the past 24 hours,” Tony Plohetski, an investigative reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, told CNN’s “New Day.”
• Surveillance teams tracked the suspect’s vehicle to a hotel in Round Rock, about 20 miles north of Austin. As police waited for tactical units, the vehicle left the hotel, Manley said.
• SWAT members approached the vehicle, and the suspect detonated a bomb, killing himself and knocking back and injuring a SWAT member, Manley said.
• A SWAT officer fired his weapon at the suspect, Manley said. It’s not clear whether the officer shot him.
• Police don’t yet “understand what motivated (the suspect) to do what he did,” Manley said.
• “This investigation is still underway, so we cannot say that this was individual acting on their own,” Manley said.
• President Donald Trump tweeted: “Austin bombing suspect is dead. Great job by law enforcement and all concerned!”
In the last attack before the suspect’s death, a package exploded early Tuesday at a FedEx sorting center near San Antonio. A second unexploded bomb was discovered hours later at another FedEx facility near Austin.
Those two packages were connected to four previous bombings that left two people dead, law enforcement agencies said Tuesday evening. FedEx said the person who sent the package that exploded Tuesday also shipped a second one that was turned over to law enforcement officials.
FedEx also said it provided authorities with “extensive evidence” from its security system on the packages and the person who shipped them.
In the incident near San Antonio, the device detonated on an automatic conveyor, said Michael Hansen, police chief in the city of Schertz. A female employee was treated on site. The FedEx facility was not the intended target, Hansen said.
The investigation
As investigators search for a motive and possible accomplices, they are checking camera footage from the facilities connected to Tuesday’s incidents, a federal law enforcement source said.
Investigators believe the same person is behind all the explosive devices, the source said, adding that the devices are similar in design and use the same components, including a “mouse trap” or a “close pin” switch, according to the source.
“We made one to show everyone what it looks like, and we did it in an hour,” the source said. The bombmaker may have taken longer to build the devices to avoid blowing himself up, the source said.
The level of bombmaking skill doesn’t necessarily point to military experience, the source added.
#UPDATE: There was no package explosion in the 9800 block of Brodie Ln. Items inside package was not a bomb, rather an incendiary device. At this time, we have no reason to believe this incident is related to previous package bombs. #Breaking #packagebombmurders
— Austin Police Dept (@Austin_Police) March 21, 2018