Texas bombing suspect blows self up on roadside as police close in

[webfact]

Texas bombing suspect blows self up on roadside as police close in

By Jon Herskovitz

 

A journalist is apprehended as law enforcement personnel investigate a home linked to the bomber in Pflugerville, Texas, U.S., March 21, 2018. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

 

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - Experts removed explosive device components on Wednesday from the home of a Texas man who police say carried out a three-week bombing spree that came to an end earlier in the day when he blew himself up as police closed in on his vehicle.

 

Officials identified the bomber as Mark Conditt, 23, an unemployed man from the Austin suburb of Pflugerville, who had been charged on Tuesday night with unlawful possession and transfer of a destructive device.

 

Hours later, police tracked Conditt to a hotel about 20 miles (32 km) north of Austin. They were following his vehicle when he pulled to the side of the road and detonated a device, killing himself, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters near the scene.

 

Police cautioned that he may have planted or mailed other bombs, asking the public to remain vigilant, but his death came as a relief to Austin, a fast-growing city of 1 million people. In addition to killing two people in the area, the bombings that began on March 2 injured at least five others.

 

Experts from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) scoured Conditt's home, where they discovered bomb parts similar to those used in the attacks.

 

"I wouldn't call it a bomb-making factory, but there's definitely components consistent with what we've seen in all these other devices," Fred Milanowski, special agent in charge of the ATF's Houston field division, told reporters.

 

Investigators detained two of Conditt's roommates who lived at the home, the Austin Police Department said. One was questioned and released and the other was still being questioned. Police said their names would not be released because they were not under arrest.

 

During his three-week campaign, the bomber left three parcels on doorsteps, activated another by trip wire, and sent at least two via FedEx, one of which blew up on a conveyer belt in a sorting facility on Tuesday. The other was recovered before it exploded.

 

FedEx said it had supplied investigators with "extensive evidence," though officials have yet to publicly detail how or when they identified Conditt as the suspect. The criminal charge and arrest warrant were filed on Tuesday night.

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Herskovitz; Additional reporting by Jim Forsyth in San Antonio, Texas, Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, Mark Hosenball in Washington, and Jonathan Allen and Gina Cherelus in New York; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Rosalba O'Brien)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-22

[samran]

Apparently he was a conservative Christian nutjob. Time that the US block the entry of conservative Christians until they can ‘figure out what is going on’.

 

Still, local authorities said after extensive investigation, there isn’t enough evidence to call his actions terrorism. 

 

 

[MaxYakov]

He was a victim ... of BDS - Bomb Derangement Syndrome and cannot be blamed for his actions.

 

PS: Nice photo of an alleged "apprehended" journalist, at least.

Edited March 21, 2018 by MaxYakov

[FreddieRoyle]

8 minutes ago, samran said:

Apparently he was a conservative Christian nutjob. Time that the US block the entry of conservative Christians until they can ‘figure out what is going on’.

 

Still, local authorities said after extensive investigation, there isn’t enough evidence to call his actions terrorism. 

 

 

Can we wait for the dust to settle before you go on the usual anti-white trollabout? We should be thankful the bomber appears to be a white male - which is why we even know about him at all, and are able to post comments about him. 

 

There is some excellent background info on the shooter at this link.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/03/21/mark-conditt-know-austin-bombing-suspect

[stevenl]

White male, mist be mentally ill and not a terrorist.

[samran]

41 minutes ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Can we wait for the dust to settle before you go on the usual anti-white trollabout? We should be thankful the bomber appears to be a white male - which is why we even know about him at all, and are able to post comments about him. 

 

There is some excellent background info on the shooter at this link.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/03/21/mark-conditt-know-austin-bombing-suspect

Hold on, aren’t you the old fella who had the Russian nerve agent thing in the UK all worked out right from the get go?

 

What was it you said? It was just an mouthy foreigner not minding his Ps and Q’s so he got what was coming when some of the locals decided to take things into their own hands with their handy stocks of Russian nerve agent?

 

 

Edited March 22, 2018 by samran

[PremiumLane]

1 hour ago, FreddieRoyle said:

Can we wait for the dust to settle before you go on the usual anti-white trollabout? We should be thankful the bomber appears to be a white male - which is why we even know about him at all, and are able to post comments about him. 

 

There is some excellent background info on the shooter at this link.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/03/21/mark-conditt-know-austin-bombing-suspect

lol anti-white? Thankful? 

 

The reason the comment was made, cos if the guy was a 'scary Muslim' all the nutjobs would be out blaming all Muslims, calling for travel bans and the usual crazy bs. 

 

Right-wing violence fueled by the likes of Infowars and Fox is on the rise and a real threat. 

[lannarebirth]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

White male, mist be mentally ill and not a terrorist.

 

I think he's a casualty of the conflict between the largely conservative belief system that has allowed mankind to flourish  for 10's of thousands of years and the church of "what's happenin' now". I don't excuse it in any way, but I get it. Some people aren't equipped for where we're headed.