Authorities in Austin, Texas believe that their biggest enemy right now is time. The capital of the "Lone Star State" has been struck by a series of mysterious bombings, two of which have been fatal. The most recent blast detonated at a FedEx distribution center outside the city of San Antonio, Texas. If this explosion can be linked back to the bombings in Austin, then this would mark the fifth such explosion in March alone.
In total, the suspected serial bomber has killed two people, Anthony Stephan House and Draylen Mason. House, a senior project manager at Texas Quarries, and Mason, an aspiring music student at the University of Texas at Austin, both perished after opening package bombs sent or left at their residences.
According to investigators at both scenes, the devices used in their killings were rudimentary pipe bombs rigged to explode once their containers were opened. House was 39, while Mason was only 17.
In the Case of the FedEx bombing, Interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley believes that the deadly package was ultimately bound for Austin. "We do believe that these incidents are all related. That is because of the specific contents of these devices," Chief Manley told Local media reporters. Only one person received medical treatment following this most recent blast, and the unnamed individual has already been released from the hospital.
Motivations
The Austin bombings have caused many city residents to suspect that the explosions may be racially motivated.
Both House and Mason were African-American, and both had connections to prominent black leaders in Austin. Both House and Mason had familial connections to Freddie Dixon, a well-known former pastor at a historically black church in the city. Leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington have called on the federal government to investigate the explosions as "terrorist attacks" motivated by either race or political ideology.
One of the wounded is a member of the city's Hispanic community, thus furthering the idea in some minds that the serial bomber is motivated by racial hatred. However, Austin police have yet to put forward any claim about the bomber's motivations. Whatever the true cause of the bombings, the entire Travis Country section of the city was placed on lockdown on Monday and school buses were barred from entering the area.
Large investigation
Currently, this case is being investigated by local and federal law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF). The explosion at the FedEx center occurred sometime after midnight. All seventy-five employees have been interviewed and cleared.
Today's bombing may be a chilling sign for investigators, for this is the second detonation in a row that does not conform with the first three explosions. The fourth detonation, which occurred on Sunday, involved the use of a trip wire mechanism and had been placed in a public space. Austin police officers claimed that this was the most advanced bomb to date.
