Texas man killed after 'device' explodes on front porch of Austin home

[Sanguine]

A man was killed after "some type of device" exploded on the front porch of his home in Texas on Friday, officials said.

The Austin Police Department said the victim, a man in his 40s, was found on the front porch of his home, after the explosion was reported around 7 a.m. in the city's northeast Harris Ridge neighborhood.

“The callers were reporting an explosion and they also reported that there was a victim that appeared to have traumatic injuries as well,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a news conference....

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/04/texas-man-killed-after-device-explodes-on-front-porch-austin-home.html

Strange story.

[RoosGirl]

Lithium ion leaf blower.  Neighbors probably got tired of him doing yard work so early on Sunday morning.

[thackney]

Lithium ion leaf blower.  Neighbors probably got tired of him doing yard work so early on Sunday morning.

These are awesome:

168 MPH 580 CFM Variable-Speed 56-Volt Lithium-ion Cordless Blower

[RoosGirl]

These are awesome:

168 MPH 580 CFM Variable-Speed 56-Volt Lithium-ion Cordless Blower

Awesome until the lithium ion battery explodes and kills you.  ;P

[WingNot]

Austin hmmmm....Check who he was sleeping with. 

[TomSea]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/deadly-explosion-austin-kills-teen-injures-woman/story?id=53683456

Explosion kills teen, injures woman
ABC News

A teenager was killed and a woman gravely injured in an explosion in Austin, Texas, this morning.

Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services reported the explosion on its verified Twitter account, saying the blast occurred at around 6:44 a.m. local time in the northeast section of the city.

ABC affiliate KVUE reported that a male teenager who has not been publicly identified was reported dead on the scene and a woman in her 40s was transported to a nearby hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries.

I'm just hearing about this, a second incident would seem to be pretty bad.  2nd death, the Feds should get involved if they aren't already, it's certainly a Federal offense to send this in the mail, UPS? or something?

[240B]

I'm just hearing about this, a second incident would seem to be pretty bad.  2nd death, the Feds should get involved if they aren't already, it's certainly a Federal offense to send this in the mail, UPS? or something?

More likely delivered by hand. Nobody delivers anything at 6:44am. Wonder what links the two bombings. It would be too weird if they were simply random. There has to be a purpose of some kind to this.

[TomSea]

Hand delivered? Really? I don't think that is likely though possible. If you get a hand delivered parcel on your front porch, then, the person delivering it would look guilty as well. They are not releasing all details yet.

Sounds like a serial bomber.

[Frank Cannon]

Sounds like a serial bomber.

It could be a cereal bomber. It did happen in the morning.

[Sanguine]

I'm just hearing about this, a second incident would seem to be pretty bad.  2nd death, the Feds should get involved if they aren't already, it's certainly a Federal offense to send this in the mail, UPS? or something?

Get the Feds involved if it involves mail, but otherwise why would we?

[240B]

Hand delivered? Really? I don't think that is likely though possible. If you get a hand delivered parcel on your front porch, then, the person delivering it would look guilty as well. They are not releasing all details yet.

Sounds like a serial bomber.

I suspect that the bomb was placed on the porch sometime overnight. It could have been put there in the dark at 3am or anytime. It was only discovered at 6am.

[TomSea]

I suspect that the bomb was placed on the porch sometime overnight. It could have been put there in the dark at 3am or anytime. It was only discovered at 6am.

You are correct too. Someone could have left it there in the dark.

[TomSea]

This being reported,

Police say this is being investigated as a homicide, and that this package was not delivered by any mail or package delivery service.
http://foxsanantonio.com/news/nation-world/police-package-explodes-at-home-in-east-austin-killing-one-person

@240B certainly outsleuthed me on this.

People get packages on their doorsteps often. So, one might see it and think, "oh, I didn't notice that", very tragic. 

Absolute terrorism, now they will look into whether these parties were specifically targeted or if this is random.

[240B]

FBI, Police Investigate Deadly Explosion In Austin, Texas – 2nd Linked Incident This Month


Police have confirmed a “package” explosion that killed one male teenager and injured a woman in Austin, Texas Monday morning.

According to local CBS affiliate KBYE, the explosion took place on the 4800 block of Oldfort Hill Drive, north of E. MLK Blvd in east Austin.

Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters that both the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigation.

The explosion is the second such incident to occur in Austin in March, and the two are allegedly being treated as linked events.

http://dailycaller.com/2018/03/12/explosion-austin-texas-fbi-terrorism-not-ruled-out/

[Victoria33]

@240B
@TomSea
@mystery-ak 

I read the article and both families are black.  Right now, it's being considered a hate crime against blacks.

Bomb at my house story:
My husband was going out of town on business, and went to our mail box outside our house to put in letters.  He came back in house and said there is a bomb in our mailbox.  He knew what balck powder looked like and saw it along with a package in the box at front of box rather than being in the back part of box.

We called police; husband had to leave to catch plane before they got there, so I was by myself.
Police came and would not touch mailbox.  They called postal inspector.  They came in a truck and had on special suits.  A device got the box out of mail box and dumped it into a big vat of water on back of truck.

I got a call from postal inspector who asked me if we had any enemy who might do that.  I thought for a minute and said our son made a film of the KKK and it was shown on Houston PBS channel last night and calls came into PBS saying stop the film or Houston would burn.  There was silence on other end of phone.  Then, inspector asked if the KKK may have done this.  I said I would call son and ask him.

Called son.  Son had been with Grand Dragon of KKK and traveled with them and made that film.  I asked him if KKK would have done this.  He said he hadn't talked to Grand Dragon since the film was shown and would call him.  He called Dragon and Dragon said the film was wonderful and did I want the KKK to come surround my house to keep me safe from whoever did this.  I told him since husband was gone, I would go across town and stay with friends that night so I wouldn't be alone.  I did not want KKK surrounding my house - they would likely have killed anyone coming around the house - didn't want that possibility.

Postal inspector got back to me and said it was a black powder bomb, not a more poweful bomb, like plastique.  I did stay with friends that night.  There were no bombs after that one and no one was found who did it.

[Idiot]

400,000 people in town for SXSW.  Maybe they just wanted to make the news?

[240B]

Yep. I saw that little blurb about both targets being Black families and they were considering a 'hate crime'. But I have to disagree. Hate crimes normally don't target individuals like that. Someone doing a hate crime would want maximum casualties, not just one person here and one person there unless the people were some very important Black leader or something like that which these are not.

Also, the most dangerous people to Blacks is not Whites, or Cops, or the KKK. The most dangerous people in terms of killing Black people is other Black people. This is much more likely to be gangs or drug/crime related than it is to be a hate crime in my opinion, for what it is worth.

These do not seem like random acts. The people being hurt by this seem to be specifically targeted for some reason that we do not know yet.

[Victoria33]

Yep. I saw that little blurb about both targets being Black families and they were considering a 'hate crime'. But I have to disagree. Hate crimes normally don't target individuals like that. Someone doing a hate crime would want maximum casualties, not just one person here and one person there unless the people were some very important Black leader or something like that which these are not.  Also, the most dangerous people to Blacks is not Whites, or Cops, or the KKK. The most dangerous people in terms of killing Black people is other Black people. This is much more likely to be gangs or drug/crime related than it is to be a hate crime in my opinion, for what it is worth.   These do not seem like random acts. The people being hurt by this seem to be specifically targeted for some reason that we do not know yet.

@240B

I agree with you on all points you made.  What was the first man's background?  What could a 17 yr. old kid and his 40 something mother have done to cause them to be a target?

Bob and I discussed this, this morning. I get what I want/need from Amazon because I have a bad knee and can't walk big stores.  If someone put a bomb in an Amazon box outside my door, I would likely pick it up before this, but now I would ask myself if I have anything coming from them.  I don't think I would pick up just any box outside the house.  Bob said he has ordered some knives from Ebay, so that package is coming.  I didn't know that.

Bad people have a way of getting into our lives and we have to adjust once again to avoid them.  Would you now pick up a box outside your door?

[Victoria33]

@240B
@mystery-ak

THERE HAS BEEN ANOTHER BOMB BLAST FROM A PACKAGE IN AUSTIN.  THIS MAKES THREE OF THEM.  NO OTHER INFO SO FAR ON THIS THIRD BOMB.  TWO MORE PEOPLE IN HOSPITAL.

[TomSea]

James Byrd was killed; he was just one person. I do think this sounds like targeted terror towards blacks. I do think it is misguided racism and hate as blacks do not pose a threat to the rest of us. 

Often when you hear about bombs, it is about them not functioning as wanted and not killing people thank goodness but this sounds like someone really knows what they are doing.  I mean, this is two people dead and another in serious condition.

[txradioguy]

A teenager was killed and at least two women were seriously hurt after a pair of explosions rocked homes in Austin on Monday -- just two weeks after a third blast which authorities said is linked to at least one of Monday's incidents.

Austin Police said they received a call about the first explosion in a neighborhood on the northeast side of the city around 6:45 a.m., after the 17-year-old resident found a package on the front step, brought it inside, and opened it in the kitchen where it exploded.

"It is very similar to the incident that occurred in Austin on March 2," Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters.

Manley said authorities don't believe the package came from a delivery through the U.S. Postal Service, and the placement on the home's front doorstep also indicated a similarity to the blast earlier this month.

We believe these cases are linked at this time," Manley said.

The Austin-Travis County EMS tweeted that a teenage male was killed and a woman in her 40s was taken to the hospital. Manley said she had non-life threatening injuries.

FBI agents could be seen going around the neighborhood, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it responded to the scene.

But just minutes after Manley's news conference finished, a separate explosion was reported around 11:49 a.m. in the Montopolis neighborhood, located southeast of downtown Austin. That blast left a woman in her 70's with "life-threatening" injuries, officials said. The Austin-Travis County EMS said on Twitter a second woman in her 80's was being treated for an "unrelated medical issue." Authorities have not yet said if this incident is related to the prior two package bombings but Fox News confirmed the third explosion also involved a package.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/12/austin-package-explosion-leaves-teen-dead-woman-hurt-after-second-blast-in-2-weeks.html

[TomSea]

Then again, above all, we don't know. This could be a black going after blacks or anyone could have done this.

[240B]

@240B
@mystery-ak

THERE HAS BEEN ANOTHER BOMB BLAST FROM A PACKAGE IN AUSTIN.  THIS MAKES THREE OF THEM.  NO OTHER INFO SO FAR ON THIS THIRD BOMB.  TWO MORE PEOPLE IN HOSPITAL.

Yes. I'm seeing this too. No info yet. This one is on Riverside which is a totally different neighborhood from the first bomb which was East of MLK.

[240B]

They think it may be related to the music festival South by SouthWest in Austin.

EXPLOSIONS IN AUSTIN: Texas City Plagued by Package Bombings
By Andrew West  March 12, 2018

As the American experience of 2018 continues to evolve and radicalize, the people of Austin, Texas are finding themselves in the crosshairs of some sort of madman.

Austin is largely thought of as an outlier city in the Lone Star State, having a young and largely liberal population, while the the rest of Texas tends to stick wholly to the conservative script.  Austin’s variance comes as a multitude of millennials have long been descending on the city for the annual South By Southwest Music Festival, that is scheduled to begin today and run through Sunday the 18th.

The music festival, which takes place at dozens of different venues around the city, is, without a doubt, the most important event to occur within Austin every year, bringing in well over $300 million to the local economy in 2016 alone.

Trending: Media SHOCKED to Learn Who’s Behind the Real Scandal of the Douglas High School Shooting

That is possibly why a madman has been targeting the city in the past few weeks, hoping to scare off the throngs of tourists that descend upon Austin every year.

https://constitution.com/explosions-in-austin-texas-city-plagued-by-package-bombings/

[musiclady]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/12/austin-package-explosion-leaves-teen-dead-woman-hurt-after-second-blast-in-2-weeks.html

[Victoria33]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/12/austin-package-explosion-leaves-teen-dead-woman-hurt-after-second-blast-in-2-weeks.html

@musiclady

There has been another one in the past minutes - that is three bombs.  Two more people are in hospital after this third bomb.

[musiclady]

@musiclady

There has been another one in the past minutes - that is three bombs.  Two more people are in hospital after this third bomb.

Yes.  The title of the article I linked says three.  The link says only two, but the article is current.

This is a very, very troubling development....

[Victoria33]

@musiclady

Third bomb was 70 or 75 yr. old Spanish woman, in hospital, wounds are life threatening.  This info. from police news conference. Governor Abbott offering $15,000 for identification of bomber.
Officer says don't open packages if you didn't order anything; call cops.  Bomb dogs being bought into Austin to help with packages.

[WingNot]

 

Do Not Open.

[musiclady]

@musiclady

Third bomb was 70 or 75 yr. old Spanish woman, in hospital, wounds are life threatening.  This info. from police news conference. Governor Abbott offering $15,000 for identification of bomber.
Officer says don't open packages if you didn't order anything; call cops.  Bomb dogs being bought into Austin to help with packages.

Can you imagine how many legitimate packages will be left on doorsteps with people terrified to open them?

This is the very essence of terrorism.

Prayers for the wounded and families.......... 

[LauraTXNM]

@240B
@TomSea
@mystery-ak 

I read the article and both families are black.  Right now, it's being considered a hate crime against blacks.

Bomb at my house story:
My husband was going out of town on business, and went to our mail box outside our house to put in letters.  He came back in house and said there is a bomb in our mailbox.  He knew what balck powder looked like and saw it along with a package in the box at front of box rather than being in the back part of box.

We called police; husband had to leave to catch plane before they got there, so I was by myself.
Police came and would not touch mailbox.  They called postal inspector.  They came in a truck and had on special suits.  A device got the box out of mail box and dumped it into a big vat of water on back of truck.

I got a call from postal inspector who asked me if we had any enemy who might do that.  I thought for a minute and said our son made a film of the KKK and it was shown on Houston PBS channel last night and calls came into PBS saying stop the film or Houston would burn.  There was silence on other end of phone.  Then, inspector asked if the KKK may have done this.  I said I would call son and ask him.

Called son.  Son had been with Grand Dragon of KKK and traveled with them and made that film.  I asked him if KKK would have done this.  He said he hadn't talked to Grand Dragon since the film was shown and would call him.  He called Dragon and Dragon said the film was wonderful and did I want the KKK to come surround my house to keep me safe from whoever did this.  I told him since husband was gone, I would go across town and stay with friends that night so I wouldn't be alone.  I did not want KKK surrounding my house - they would likely have killed anyone coming around the house - didn't want that possibility.

Postal inspector got back to me and said it was a black powder bomb, not a more poweful bomb, like plastique.  I did stay with friends that night.  There were no bombs after that one and no one was found who did it.

That is an amazing story!  I'm really glad you all weren't hurt.  I'd love to watch your son's film -- could you tell me the title?  Thanks!

[LauraTXNM]

@240B

I agree with you on all points you made.  What was the first man's background?  What could a 17 yr. old kid and his 40 something mother have done to cause them to be a target?

Bob and I discussed this, this morning. I get what I want/need from Amazon because I have a bad knee and can't walk big stores.  If someone put a bomb in an Amazon box outside my door, I would likely pick it up before this, but now I would ask myself if I have anything coming from them.  I don't think I would pick up just any box outside the house.  Bob said he has ordered some knives from Ebay, so that package is coming.  I didn't know that.

Bad people have a way of getting into our lives and we have to adjust once again to avoid them.  Would you now pick up a box outside your door?

Re. Amazon packages: I definitely always look at the "tape" on their boxes, which says "Amazon" on it.  It seems like it would be hard to fake.

[WingNot]

I'd love to watch your son's film -- could you tell me the title?  Thanks!

I'm sure it not available. 

[Victoria33]

Re. Amazon packages: I definitely always look at the "tape" on their boxes, which says "Amazon" on it.  It seems like it would be hard to fake.

@LauraTXNM

Son made that film years ago when a senior at Rice University, Houston, Texas.

Amazon boxes - the bad guys would use a real Amazon box that had been mailed to them or someone else.  This past Christmas, we went to a friend's house and we opened gifts. Many of the gifts were in Amazon boxes but the gift did not come from Amazon.  The two gifts we took were also in Amazon boxes we had at the house - the gifts did not originally come in them.

[LauraTXNM]

@LauraTXNM

Son made that film years ago when a senior at Rice University, Houston, Texas.

Amazon boxes - the bad guys would use a real Amazon box that had been mailed to them or someone else.  This past Christmas, we went to a friend's house and we opened gifts. Many of the gifts were in Amazon boxes but the gift did not come from Amazon.  The two gifts we took were also in Amazon boxes we had at the house - the gifts did not originally come in them.

Hey there!  I was thinking about the tape Amazon uses.  I think it would be hard to duplicate the tape, and it would be easy to tell if it had been resealed.  But I agree with you -- I'd be very nervous to open a package if I wasn't expecting it.

[MOD3]

Topics merged.

[TomSea]

Yep. I saw that little blurb about both targets being Black families and they were considering a 'hate crime'. But I have to disagree. Hate crimes normally don't target individuals like that. Someone doing a hate crime would want maximum casualties, not just one person here and one person there unless the people were some very important Black leader or something like that which these are not.

Also, the most dangerous people to Blacks is not Whites, or Cops, or the KKK. The most dangerous people in terms of killing Black people is other Black people. This is much more likely to be gangs or drug/crime related than it is to be a hate crime in my opinion, for what it is worth.

These do not seem like random acts. The people being hurt by this seem to be specifically targeted for some reason that we do not know yet.

So you are saying that when James Byrd was dragged with a chain and lynched in 1998, it wasn't aimed at a certain group of people because it was just one of him and not an act of hate? Well, the courts and myself certainly disagree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Byrd_Jr.

[TomSea]

If the bomber is smart, they should know, this same ploy will not work in a good portion of Austin now that the public has been put on notice.  It should be the whole city will know but we know, everywhere, some people don't seem to get the news.

This could be like the Unibomber and the bomber could remain on the loose for years. Law Enforcement may well not tell the public their best clues on this. Everyone in Texas, that surrounding area, maybe the whole US, should know better than to pick up suspicious packages.

[Restored]

So you are saying that when James Byrd was dragged with a chain and lynched in 1998, it wasn't aimed at a certain group of people because it was just one of him and not an act of hate? Well, the courts and myself certainly disagree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Byrd_Jr.

How many people in that group were killed by the group that lynched Byrd? A dozen?

[Sanguine]

So you are saying that when James Byrd was dragged with a chain and lynched in 1998, it wasn't aimed at a certain group of people because it was just one of him and not an act of hate? Well, the courts and myself certainly disagree.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Byrd_Jr.

What a bizarre argument!

[TomSea]

How many people in that group were killed by the group that lynched Byrd? A dozen?

None. Good point.

[TomSea]

What a bizarre argument!

I appreciate the constructive criticism.

[Sanguine]

I appreciate the constructive criticism.

It was more than that argument deserved.

[TomSea]

What perplexed investigators was the attack on Herrera. She is Hispanic and has no connection to House, Dixon or the Mason family, but, according to the Washington Post, the package that injured Herrera, who was injured at her mother’s home, was not addressed to the home to which it was delivered. According to the American-Statesman, investigators believe the deadly package was intended for a neighbor, Erica Mason, who might have been targeted under the belief that she was a member of the Mason family. Investigators interviewed Erica, who is from Iowa, on Wednesday and concluded that she was not a member of the targeted family, but it is not known conclusively if she was the intended target.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/03/theory-emerging-on-motive-of-austin-bombings.html

[Sanguine]

What perplexed investigators was the attack on Herrera. She is Hispanic and has no connection to House, Dixon or the Mason family, but, according to the Washington Post, the package that injured Herrera, who was injured at her mother’s home, was not addressed to the home to which it was delivered. According to the American-Statesman, investigators believe the deadly package was intended for a neighbor, Erica Mason, who might have been targeted under the belief that she was a member of the Mason family. Investigators interviewed Erica, who is from Iowa, on Wednesday and concluded that she was not a member of the targeted family, but it is not known conclusively if she was the intended target.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/03/theory-emerging-on-motive-of-austin-bombings.html

That's an interesting site.  I love some of the headlines:

Gun Con-Troll: How I Managed to Enrage (and Expose) Thousands of Right-Wing Gun Guys
The Funniest Tweets About Rex Tillerson’s Firing
The 5 Most Likely Cabinet Members to Go Next in Trump's Purge
Watch Betsy DeVos Demonstrate How Little She Knows About Schools, Again
Why The U.S. Government Just Sued California Over Sanctuary Cities
In the 2018 Midterms, It’s Republicans Vs. The Human Instinct for Self-Preservation
Trump Didn’t Condemn the Russians for their Chemical Attack in the UK
New CIA Chief Gina Haspel Was an Enthusiastic Torture Proponent...To Put it Mildly

However, the Austin police chief has said very clearly that they don't know that these bombings are tied to any ideology.

[TomSea]

Just adding on to the existing thread, read it for oneself:

SXSW cancels The Roots concert after 'security concern'
BY Nicole Hensley

An Austin concert set to star The Roots was abruptly canceled because of an unspecified “security concern,” event organizers said Saturday night.

Police swarmed the Fair Market venue as the South by Southwest performance was called off, about a half hour before the hip hop show was scheduled to begin, according to the Austin Statesman.

Questlove, the Philly-based band's drummer, warned fans about the cancellation on Twitter and then deleted his tweet.

Read more at: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/sxsw-cancels-roots-concert-security-concern-article-1.3881661

Authorities might be overly cautious and that's better than not being so.

[Gefn]

This is heartbreaking

Bless the victims and their families- I hope the person who is doing this will be caught asap.

[Sanguine]

It's frustrating that there is so little information at this point.

[Gefn]

It's frustrating that there is so little information at this point.

Keep us posted @Sanguine

[TomSea]

Keep us posted @Sanguine

@Freya

She could be keeping us up to date and she has a lot of potential.

As it is, unbelievable, something more is happening there tonight but I can't tell how serious it is.

Austin Statesman
‏Verified account @statesman
3m3 minutes ago

BREAKING NEW UPDATE: Two possible explosions reported in Southwest Austin https://atxne.ws/2IzQoaA

ATCEMS
‏Verified account @ATCEMS
3m3 minutes ago

FINAL: Critical Incident @ 4800blk Dawn Song Dr (correct incident address), Only 1 incident location has been confirmed. #ATCEMSMedics have transported X2 ~20's Males to SAMC w/serious, but not expected to be life-threatening injuries. Refer all inquires to @Austin_Police

More: https://twitter.com/statesman