Police: Suspect In Austin Bombing Attacks Blows Himself Up

ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) — The suspect in a spate of bombing attacks in Austin that have killed two people and injured four others this month blew himself up with an explosive device as authorities closed in, the city police said early Wednesday.

Law enforcement official tells the AP the dead Austin bombing suspect was Mark Anthony Conditt.

Authorities had zeroed in on the suspect in the last 24 to 36 hours and located him at a hotel on Interstate 35 in the Austin suburb of Round Rock, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a news conference. They were waiting for ballistic vehicles to arrive when his vehicle began to drive away, Manley said. Authorities followed the vehicle, which stopped in a ditch on the side of the road, the police chief said.

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When members of the SWAT team approached, the suspect detonated an explosive device inside the vehicle, the police chief said. The blast knocked back one officer, while a second officer fired his weapon, Manley said.

The suspect, who suffered significant injuries from the blast, was killed. Authorities identified him only as a 24-year-old white man.

Authorities said it was too soon to say if the suspect had worked alone. They also said they don’t know his motive.

Earlier Wednesday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said federal and local authorities had converged on an area where the bombing suspect was holed up in the capital city.

Source WBAL