At the same time that the city of Austin, Texas was hosting the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival earlier in March, it has also been dealing with a series of package bombs that have caused fear and chaos in the community. Over the course of ten days, three different bombs across the city killed two people and injured two more. And on Sunday night, a fourth bomb went off—injuring two men on bicycle.
As reported by KXAN:
Two men in their 20s, who were either riding or pushing their bicycles, were injured when the bomb exploded in the "Travis Country East" subdivision in southwest Austin. Both men are in good condition at the hospital, according to a spokesperson for St. David's South Austin Medical Center. The Austin Police Department confirmed both men injured in the latest bombing are white, while the other victims were black or Hispanic. [...]
Chief Manley said investigators are working on the belief that Sunday night's explosion is connected to the previous three; he noted the bombs have different kids of projectiles within them. He noted the FBI, ATF and his department's investigators at the scene will learn more when the sun comes up and they can completely process evidence.
What is distinct about this latest incident is that the bomb was triggered by a trip wire while the bikers were passing by, instead of detonated by a device left in a package on people’s doorsteps. This recent bomb also seems to be more sophisticated in nature, given the use of the trip wire. In this case, the victims were not people of color—which doesn’t follow the pattern so far, though police have not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime in the previous bombings.
The AP reported on Monday that Austin’s police chief (Brian Manley) and the special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Frederick Milanowski, believe that the cases are all related and that the methodology of the bomber seems to have changed.
Police Chief Brian Manley told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday that Sunday night’s explosion was detonated by a tripwire and showed “a different level of skill.” The attack differed from three earlier blasts in Austin this month, which were caused by package bombs left on people’s doorsteps.
Though the incidents didn’t occur in areas near the SXSW festival, there was a bomb threat over the weekend which caused the cancellation of a concert by The Roots. According to CNN, a suspect is already in custody. Police have not indicated whether or not this threat and the four other bombings are related.
Austin police arrested Trevor Weldon Ingram, 26, in connection with the threat. He was arrested on charges of making a terroristic threat.
The incident began Saturday around 4:30 p.m. when a Live Nation Music representative contacted police to report a bomb threat received by email was made to the Fair Market event venue where "Bud Light x The Roots & Friends Jam" was scheduled to take place, police said. Officers responded to the location and found no explosives.
As a result of the threat, Bud Light canceled the event. The company said in a statement on Twitter that "the safety of all fans at SXSW is our most important priority."
Here’s the latest briefing on the bombings from the Austin Police Department:
Though police are still looking for a suspect, they have indicated that this is the work of a serial bomber and are trying to determine the specific ideology behind the bombings. Additionally, FBI has sent 350 special agents to Austin to work on the case.