Police: Austin serial bomber suspect killed in police standoff
The suspect in the serial bombings that terrorized Austin this month was killed early Wednesday during a standoff with police along Interstate 35 in Round Rock, just north of Austin, police tell local media. The suspect detonated an explosive device and possibly shot himself, CBS News reports. A high-ranking law enforcement official tells the Austin American-Statesman that authorities identified the suspect within the past 24 hours, thanks mostly to evidence gathered from when the suspect shipped explosives-filled packages from a FedEx store in southwest Austin, one of which went off at a FedEx facility north of San Antonio early Tuesday. The official also said that along with surveillance video from FedEx, authorities studied suspicious purchases by the suspect and his Google history obtained through a warrant, and they tracked the suspect to a hotel using cellphone tracking technology.
For the first time in 19 days, there's a smile from @chief_manley. The #AustinBombings suspect is dead. @cbsaustin pic.twitter.com/Xx4wcQwYTK
— Jim Bob Breazeale (@jbbreazeale) March 21, 2018
Since March 2, at least five explosions killed two people in Austin and injured at least four others. The latest scare was an apparently unrelated incendiary device that went off at a Goodwill store in South Austin.
Update 6:15 am E.T.: Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a press conference that the suspect, a 24-year-old white male, blew himself up inside his car after police followed him from a hotel parking lot. One officer was injured and another fired at the suspect. "We do not understand what motivated him to do what he did," Manley said, and police will not identify the suspect until he is positively identified by a medical examiner. "We don't know where this suspect spent the last 24 hours," or if he had any accomplices, he added, so residents of Austin and surrounding communities should still exercise caution. You can watch the news conference below.
— Austin Police Dept (@Austin_Police) March 21, 2018