UPDATE: REWARD IS UP TO $100,000+!
Reward now $115,000 for tips in Austin package bombings
Governor announces $15,000 reward
Reward now $115,000 for tips in Austin package bombings
Governor announces $15,000 reward
Police: "Similarities" indicate link in deadly Austin package explosions
By Crimesider Staff CBS/AP March 12, 2018, 9:58 AM
Last Updated Mar 12, 2018 1:57 PM EDT
AUSTIN, Texas -- Police in Austin say "similarities" between two deadly package explosions in Texas' capital city this month lead them to believe the incidents are related. The latest incident, reported Monday morning, killed a 17-year-old boy and wounded a woman, Austin police chief Brian Manley said.
The boy died at the scene and the woman in her 40s was taken to the hospital with potentially life threatening injuries after the explosion at the East Austin home before 7 a.m. In an earlier incident March 2, Anthony Stephan House, 39, was killed when a package exploded at his northeast Austin home, CBS affiliate KEYE reports.
Police also responded around 11:50 a.m. Monday to the report of an explosion in southeast Austin in which a woman was badly injured, according to police and the Associated Press, but more information wasn't immediately available and it wasn't clear whether it was related to the two package explosions.
Austin-Travis County EMS tweeted that the later blast left a woman in her 70s with potentially life-threatening injuries, and that a second woman in her 80s was being treated for an unrelated medical issue. Authorities have not said whether the most recent explosion was caused by a package bomb like the one that exploded earlier Monday and on March 2.
The scene of a deadly package explosion in Austin, Texas March 12, 2018
KEYE
In those two incidents, the packages were left at the doorstep of the home apparently in the overnight hours and opened by the resident in the early morning hours, Manley said. They were apparently left at the doorstep and were not delivered through the postal service, according to Manley. He said the U.S. Postal Service doesn't have a record of delivering the package to the East Austin home where Monday's explosion occurred, and that private carriers like UPS and FedEx also indicated that they had none, either.
"There are similarities, and we cannot rule out that these two incidents are in fact related," Manley said.
Austin police had initially investigated House's death as suspicious, but the case has since been re-classified as a homicide, Manley said. The death of the teen Monday is also being probed as a murder, according to Manley.
Manley said investigators aren't sure of a motive, but can't rule out the possibility of hate crimes because the residents of both homes were African-American.
"We don't know what the motive behind these may be," Manley said. "We do know that both of the homes that were the recipients of these packages belong to African-Americans, so we cannot rule out that hate crime is at the core of this. But we're not saying that that's the cause as well."
Bomb-sniffing dogs were reportedly at the scene of the explosion Monday morning and nearby homes were evacuated. Police initially were concerned about a second package at the home, but have since cleared it and believe it to be unrelated, Manley said.
The explosions happened with hundreds of thousands of visitors in the city for the South by Southwest music, film and technology festival, and authorities urged the public to call the police if they receive any packages they aren't expecting.
The FBI is helping Austin police in the investigation. The ATF was also responding to assist. Authorities are searching nearby homes for any external video cameras that may be able to offer clues.
This is a developing story.
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Maybe this whole race war shyt ain’t no joke. These cacs certainly aren’t playing around.
How much y'all wanna bet this is linked to them...