Since early March, a series of what law enforcement officials describe as bombs built with “a certain level of skill and sophistication” have detonated in three separate households in Austin, Texas. Thus far, the skilled malice visited upon three victims by an unknown number of suspects has killed two, one of whom was a teen, and injured two others. The latest bomb detonated yesterday at yet another Austin household.
So far, police have stated that all three bombs were designed to explode upon opening and that none of the packaged bombs were delivered by ordinary parcel services such as USPS, FedEx or UPS. It is believed the perpetrators walked upon the victims’ private property and placed bomb-enclosed boxes at the front door. That has the makings of personal, vindictive motivation.
One of the victims, a 75-year-old Hispanic woman identified as Esperanza Herrera is listed with life-threatening injuries. Should she survive, a great witness she will make. Testimony of her activity before the bomb blast and what (who) she feels made her a target is indeed crucial.
The Austin environment is now host to a tremendous contingent of federal agents helping with the investigation. As Austin’s police Chief Brian Manley put it, “There is a level of attention and a level of involvement by our federal partners here in Austin that we’ve not seen before.”
Austin PD Chief Brian Manley on response to package explosions: "There is a level of attention and a level of involvement by our federal partners here in Austin that we’ve not seen before.” #TheStory https://t.co/GVStCgBM0F pic.twitter.com/D4J7dEOPUL
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 12, 2018
Component Parts
Besides literally dissecting the components of each bomb (likely identical to each other) informing police of certain distinctions with which to investigate –tracking down materials’ sources, sales, transaction details, video footage of purchasers, etc– other elements factor into identifying a suspect and making arrest(s).
Big brother is going to play a beginning and end part. Invariably, neighbors on the streets where all three bombs exploded will have at least one residence strung with electronic surveillance. Nowadays, private surveillance is common and law enforcement receives a helping hand by canvassing areas of crimes to ascertain if anyone has any footage. In the event they locate folks who are in possession of video records, if even a small scope, all of it is scoured.
It only takes a screen-shot of passing vehicle which does not belong to a resident/neighbor for police to start verifying motorists in the area preceding bomb detonations. In the event ample vehicular traffic is found, process of elimination takes time.
As mentioned, federal law enforcement authorities from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) with specialties in and resources for explosive device investigations are aiding Austin cops with all three investigations which, as has been floated, may all be related. ATF’s natural response Team (NRT) joined the investigation Monday, on the heels of the second and third bombings. NRT is widely-known for explosives investigations expertise.
The commonality being reported by Austin police officials is that all three victims are people of color and/or minorities: three victims are African-American and the fourth is Hispanic. With the notion that the motivation behind the bombings is influenced by hate crime reasoning, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is also involved in the investigation.
Per the Associated Press, FBI agents have now concluded that two of the three victims knew each other: “Two of the families hit with package bombs left on Austin doorsteps knew each other and were connected through local activism in the black community, a civic leader said Tuesday, but it was not clear how they might be tied to a third household where a package bomb also exploded.”
That link is crucial in that it helps police to hone-in on types of activism, where events were held, and who may have been in attendance. As in our earlier mention, any available surveillance footage (any records) will be impounded and scrutinized for any individual(s) who happened to be at more than one event where the victims spoke or were involved in terms of activism attendance. Albeit rare, any subjects who may have caused a ruckus and a show of indifference will muster intense police focus.
On occasion, the smartest suspects who deeply believe they are of superior intellect above all others sometimes outsmart themselves and do the stupidest things, in effect giving themselves away. So be it.
One glaring correlation reported by the AP makes germane the race and the familiarity among victims: the teen victim, “Draylen Mason, 17, was killed and his mother wounded when a package bomb was opened Monday in their kitchen. The teen’s grandfather is Norman Mason, a prominent dentist in east Austin. He was friends with Freddie Dixon, stepfather of 39-year-old Anthony House, who died in a similar attack in another part of the city on March 2 [the first in the series of bombings], said Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP.”
Young Mason’s mother was severely injured in the bomb blast they were both exposed to when opening an “unexpected package.” With the circumstance of surprise parcels delivered to the door, Austin police and the Texas attorney general publicized warnings to call police before interacting with any phantom packages and unplanned deliveries.
The Austin Police Department social media pages advertised the following warning: “If you receive a package that you aren’t expecting or looks suspicious, DO NOT OPEN IT. Call 9-1-1 immediately so that we may assist you.”
Austin PD Chief Brian Manley: “These are very powerful devices, and that’s why, again, it is so imperative that no one attempts to touch, move, or handle one of these packages if you come across it.” https://t.co/GVStCgBM0F pic.twitter.com/LLpEu97mbG
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 12, 2018
Austin, Texas police Chief Brian Manley has been candid with news media, revealing he is aware of the potential connections among victims and stopped short of speculating if it was and how the case will proceed. Plenty of elements exist and all the moving parts are in forward motion while some are also backtracking for trails to the culprit(s). Time will tell as much as the evidence will, both what is available from the crime scenes as well as peripheral evidence such as footage neighbors may not be aware they are in possession of.
Chief Manley revealed that federal agents along with Austin police “detectives are currently looking at [connections]to evaluate that lead and see if it is in fact relevant to what we are investigating.” I bet it has some sticky parts with decent traction.
Whether sheer coincidence or plausible connection, investigators are sifting through all potential threads in efforts to weave a suspect-pool profile, laden with interviews leading to an interrogation of one or more parties. Rather routine, but grand scale proportions.
Suspect(s) assembled “these bombs together; they’re transporting them to their intended location and then actually detonating them. So there’s a certain level of skill and sophistication that whoever is doing this has, and…we are hoping to use the evidence we have to track them down based on what we are seeing on all three scenes that seem to be consistent,” Chief Manley shared with local media station KXAN.
Their is a tone of confidence in his message, which translates to we are closer than what we can share at this moment. It is always a careful cat-and-mouse game when discussing elements of a crime with media since, naturally, the bad guys watch TV also. Thus sensitivities exist with regard to what and how much police must keep close to the cuff, for the sake of all.
I foresee the trail of bomb-making equipment plus attendance at community activism functions will culminate in answers leading to identifying the package bomber.
Then again, a hate group or unhinged individual may come forward and claim responsibility for the bombings. I am sure their ego is bloated with the mention of bomb-making sophistication conveyed by cops.
