Austin, Texas Video
This is the Explosion site it was actually Condoned off by F.B.I
For the fourth time this month, a device exploded on residents in the Texas capital.
What makes this blast especially terrifying is that it was left on the side of a residential road and may have been triggered by a tripwire, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said.
The three previous bombs were stuffed inside packages and left on residents’ doorsteps.
And unlike the victims of the previous blasts, the two men injured in Sunday’s explosion are white, Austin police said. Both men are expected to recover.
“The use of a tripwire is far less discriminating than leaving parcel bombs at residences and suggests that the latest victims were not specifically targeted,” said Stratfor Threat Lens, a global think tank.
“The device’s success, despite significantly different design, further suggests that the bomb maker behind these attacks is an accomplished one, and has likely to have received some training, perhaps as a military or police explosive ordnance disposal technician.”
This latest attack has even impacted area schoolchildren. The Austin public school district says it can’t send buses to the affected neighborhood Monday because of police activity. “Any tardies or absences due to this situation will be excused,” the district said.
Now, investigators are trying to determine if the person responsible is linked to the trio of bombings this month that killed two people and wounded two others.
“The entire community is anxious this morning,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said Monday.
‘Extra level of vigilance’ needed
The circumstances of Sunday’s blast were different from previous explosions, the police chief said
“We’re not believing that this was similar to previous ones, as in packages left on doorsteps. But instead, this was some type of suspicious package that was left on the side of the road, that detonated and injured these two men,” Manley said.
The men had been biking or walking their bicycles in southwest Austin when the explosion happened.
“What we do understand now, is that the possibility exists this device was triggered in a different mechanism — that being a tripwire,” he said.
The latest explosion comes less than a week after police said three previous package explosions — in a span of 10 days — were connected. Those explosions killed a man and a teenager, and injured two others
Latest developments
- “As the bombmaker changes up design and geography, all residents of Austin and surrounding areas should avoid suspicious items,” Stratfor says.
- Residents living near the scene must stay indoors until 10 a.m. CT Monday.
- The two injured men were either biking or pushing bicycles when the explosion occurred