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Austin bombing suspect, 24-year-old man, dies as police close in, chief says
American-Statesman ^ | 3-21-2018 | Tony Plohetski

Posted on 03/21/2018 3:34:11 AM PDT by servo1969

5:10 a.m. update: The suspect in a string of bombings in Austin is dead, interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley confirmed early Wednesday.

Investigators identified several leads but the case really broke in the past 24 to 36 hours, Manley said.

The chief described how authorities tracked down the suspect’s vehicle to a Round Rock-area hotel. Police began following the suspect’s vehicle, and as SWAT approached, the suspect detonated a bomb in the car, Manley said.

The name of the suspect, described only as a 24-year-old white man, has not been released, pending notification of his family, Manley said.

Although police are still investigating the possibility of accomplices, he said, “we believe this individual is responsible for all of the incidents in Austin.”

Manley urged the community to remain vigilant for possible other explosives, adding that “we do not know where (the suspect) has been in the past 24 hours.”

Police have not identified a motive for the string of bombings, Manley said.

Earlier: A man whom authorities were attempting to arrest early Wednesday in a string of bombing attacks in Austin killed himself with an explosive device as authorities closed in, a high-ranking law enforcement official told the American-Statesman.

The official said authorities identified a suspect in the past 24 hours based largely on information gained after police said the suspect shipped an explosive device from a FedEx store in Sunset Valley, a suburb surrounded by Austin. That evidence included security video.

Authorities also relied upon store receipts showing suspicious transactions from the person and obtained a search warrant for his Google search history that showed him conducting searches they considered suspicious, the official said.

Authorities relied upon cell phone technology to trace the suspect to a hotel in Williamson County, the official said.

(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: austin; bomb; bombing; bombings
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To: Cowboy Bob

I’m going to. I was in Cedar Park last night when this was going down. Where da TV cameras? I’m “a survivor”, dammit! I want my 15 minutes and a book and movie deal!


61 posted on 03/21/2018 6:52:06 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (#NotARussianBot)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

LMAO. Must have been one hell of a blast if you were affected by it in Cedar Park.


62 posted on 03/21/2018 6:54:09 AM PDT by TADSLOS (Alex Jones isnÂ’t quite the wing nut now, all things considered.)
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To: servo1969
I was so relieved to wake up to this news this morning. LE did an amazing job of zeroing in on him. They also clearly got the right guy. We are all very fortunate that in general, criminals are stupid and want attention. If he hadn't deviated from his original bombs, he would likely still be at-large. Seems like they all eventually just have to call attention to themselves- ego gets in the way- and lucky for us b/c then they get caught.

How about those pics in the Fed Ex store? If that doesn't raise suspicions, I don't know what would! Gloves? and a huge blonde wig? Yikes! Yet apparently, the employee just took the packages and went on with his day. Amazing.

63 posted on 03/21/2018 7:38:37 AM PDT by luv2ski
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To: mazda77

Wasn’t the unibomber Mormon? This kids mother made some mention of him maybe going on a mission trip back when he graduated high school. Maybe he’s a copy cat.


64 posted on 03/21/2018 8:02:37 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: gaijin

“Does anyone really believe the police would disclose the real method they used to identify him..?”

No, because just like in 99% of all other cases it’s information from a private citizen. A “tip”.


65 posted on 03/21/2018 8:44:45 AM PDT by faucetman (Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)
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To: Georgia Girl 2
Maybe he’s a copy cat.

No, that was the 'Tunabomber'.

66 posted on 03/21/2018 9:38:14 AM PDT by Riley (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: gaijin

I told my girlfriend when he sent the FedEx package he was done. They can tell exactly what truck it came from by its position on the conveyor belt and then just backtrack from there.

What I didn’t anticipate was the fact they knew what cellphone’s were using that tower at that point in time and then tracked his signal.


67 posted on 03/21/2018 10:42:28 AM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Democrat laws and regulations kill people.)
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