Police in Austin, Texas were able to identify the man they called a serial bomber who killed two people and terrorized the state’s capital for 19 days after obtaining CCTV surveillance footage of him posting two packages at a FedEx store on Sunday night.
Click here to see photos of the surveillance footage.
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One package exploded at the south Austin store, while the other was found undetonated.
It’s possible the suspect was wearing a wig. Police identified him as Mark Anthony Conditt, 24, and surrounded him at a hotel on Interstate 35 near Austin at about 2 a.m. Wednesday. As police closed in on his location, Conditt killed himself inside his car with an explosive device.
Police have yet to find a note or anything else that would indicate his motive, and do not know at this time whether Conditt acted alone.
Since the bombings started on March 2, investigators searched for clues finding a person they dubbed a “serial bomber.” In total, authorities found Conditt was responsible for six bombs, killing two people and injuring at least five others.
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 police as 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.
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 began March 2 when a packaged bomb exploded at a residence in northeast Austin, killing a 39-year-old man. Ten days later, a pair of packaged bombs detonated in another neighborhood, killing a 17-year-old and two other people. Sunday night, two men were seriously injured by another explosion near city limits.
Police say the victims appeared to be random.
