The man behind a string of deadly explosions in Austin has been identified after he killed himself on Wednesday morning.
Mark Anthony Conditt, 24, detonated a bomb inside his car after police surrounded him at a hotel on Interstate 35 near Austin at about 2 a.m.
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Police were able to identify the suspect after obtaining CCTV footage of him posting two packages at a FedEx office on Sunday night.
Since the bombings began on March 2, investigators searched for clues in finding a person they dubbed a “serial bomber.” The bombings killed two people and left the Texas capital terrorized with fear for 19 days.
Authorities had previously begged for information following three isolated residential attacks with small package bombs, a blast on a street in an Austin neighborhood and an explosion at a FedEx facility near San Antonio from a package sent from and intended to reach Austin. Another package sent by Conditt was intercepted at a FedEx facility and was later confirmed to contain a bomb.
In the past 36 hours, law enforcement received information directing them to the person of interest, who ultimately became a suspect. Austin police chief Brian Manley said officers used CCTV, cell phone data, witness accounts and store receipts to track the bomber to a hotel north of the city.
Surveillance teams tracked the suspect’s vehicle to a hotel in Round Rock, and as police waited for tactical units to arrive at the scene, the vehicle left the hotel.
SWAT followed and later approached the vehicle when the suspect detonated a bomb, killing himself and injuring a SWAT member. A SWAT officer fired his weapon at the suspect after another officer was knocked down by the blast. It is unclear whether the officer shot the suspect.
Authorities do not know at this time whether Conditt acted alone or what his motive may have been for carrying out the bombings; police have not yet found any note or manifesto explaining his actions.
Austin police chief Brian Manley said the suspect is responsible for all the incidents in the Texas capital.
“This is the culmination of three very long weeks in our community,” Manley said. He urged residents to remain alert, saying that authorities do not know where Conditt had been in the past 24 hours and if he sent additional packages.
President Donald Trump also tweeted about the incident on Wednesday morning: “Austin bombing suspect is dead. Great job by law enforcement and all concerned.”
The fatal bombings in Texas began March 2, when a package bomb exploded at a residence in northeast Austin, killing a 39-year-old man. A pair of package bombs detonated 10 days later in another neighborhood, leaving a 17-year-old dead and two other people injured. On Sunday night, two men were seriously injured by another explosion near the city limits.
Police initially speculated the attacks may be racially motivated, citing that the two deceased victims came from prominent African-American families, while one of the wounded people is Hispanic. But after Sunday’s bombing appeared to be rigged with a tripwire on a neighborhood street, police say the injured victims — two white men — appeared to be random.
