By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
Local and federal authors believe a string of deadly package explosions in Austin, Texas, may be racially motived after two more people were injured Sunday evening when an explosive device detonated.
The latest explosion – the fourth so far this month – happened in southern Austin around 8:30 p.m., prompting police to urge nearby residents to stay in their homes until 10 a.m. this morning.
The latest device was different because it appears a tripwire triggered the explosion in an area of Austin far from the other package bombs.
“We will not be able to send school buses into the neighborhood on Monday,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said in a late-night news conference. “In addition to that, we’re going to ask the residents in the Travis County neighborhood to stay in your homes tomorrow morning and give us the opportunity to process the scene once the sun comes up.”
The victims in Sunday’s blast were men in their 20s who were being treated at a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Authorities weren’t immediately certain the blast was related to three unsolved package explosions in Austin this month that killed two people and injured two others, but police are working under the belief that the bombings are connected.
The first two victims, 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House and 17-year-old Draylen Mason, are black and have ties to two prominent African Americans families connected to an East Austin church that has long fought for racial justice. The third bomb targeted a hispanic resident and her mother.
The race of Sunday’s victims weren’t release Sunday night.
The FBI and ATF are assisting local police in the probe.
