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Texas bombings suspect blows himself up as police move in

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Austin: A 24-year-old white man suspected of being behind a series of deadly parcel bombings in the US state of Texas blew himself up on Wednesday as authorities moved in to arrest him. Police said the suspect detonated a device in a car outside a hotel in the state capital Austin which has been gripped by fear since the attacks began nearly three weeks ago.


While the search for the unnamed bomber is now at an end, authorities warned that he may have planted other explosives before his death.


“The suspect is deceased,” Austin police chief Brian Manley told an early morning news conference after the dramatic end to the massive manhunt.


Manley told reporters that the suspect is believed to have been responsible for all five bomb explosions that have killed two people and wounded half a dozen others since March 2. The motive behind the attacks remains unknown.


Police traced the suspect’s car to a hotel outside Austin in a pre-dawn operation.


As authorities waited for tactical teams to arrive, the suspect started to drive away. As police then moved to stop and arrest him, he detonated a bomb inside his car that killed him, Manley said. One police officer was injured by the blast.


Police zeroed in on the suspect over the past 36 hours as evidence came in from video footage and witness accounts, Manley said.


“It has been a long almost three weeks for the community of Austin,” the police chief said.


But Fred Milanowski, a senior officer at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), warned that the danger was not yet over.


“We want to make sure that if people see suspicious packages or bags, that they continue to call 911 so that we can respond and deal with them,” Milanowski, said.


President Donald Trump offered his congratulations to police, writing on Twitter: “AUSTIN BOMBING SUSPECT IS DEAD. Great job by law enforcement and all


concerned!”


CBS affiliate KEYE in Austin published what it said were photos of the man, wearing a blue baseball cap, gloves and possibly a wig of long, straw-blond hair as he dropped off packages on Sunday at a FedEx office. The photos came from security footage. — AFP


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