Family of Austin Bombing Suspect Makes Official Statement

The family of the suspected Austin, Texas bomber, who killed two people and injured several others with package bombs over the past three weeks, is speaking out after he was identified as Mark Anthony Conditt earlier Wednesday.

“We are devastated and broken at the news that our family member could be involved in such an awful way…Our prayers are for those families who have lost loved ones…and for the soul of our Mark,” the family said in a statement to ABC News.

“Our family is a normal family in every way. We love, and we pray and, we try to inspire and serve others,” the family said via their statement. “We are grieving, and we are in shock. Please respect our privacy as we deal with this terrible, terrible knowledge and try to support each other at this time.”

Conditt killed himself early Wednesday after police, who had been staking out his hotel, followed him onto Interstate 35. After a short time, authorities said, Conditt pulled into a ditch and detonated an explosive device as Austin Police Department SWAT team members approached his car.

Conditt’s grandmother told CNN that he could be a skilled bomb maker responsible for at least six explosive devices, five of which detonated, seemed unthinkable, adding that he was a quiet, kind and loving person and that she’d never seen any signs of violence in him.

“Oh my gosh, no,” Mary Conditt told CNN, on the phone from Colorado. “If anything he’s low-key and peaceful.”

Mary Conditt also described his family as “so tight” and one “that works so hard to raise their children correctly. It’s just horrible.”

She added that Mark Conditt had finished homeschooling and was now “looking forward to figuring out what most kids are — figuring out his life and visiting his family and being close to them.”

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.

Austin police chief Brian Manley said Conditt 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.

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.