A suspect in the string of bombings in Austin this month is dead. Interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley says the suspect detonated a bomb as officers surrounded him in his vehicle in Round Rock this morning.

"The suspect is deceased and has significant injuries from a blast that occurred from detonating a bomb inside his vehicle," Manley said.

Manley said the suspect was a 24-year-old white male. Police were not releasing his name until he could be positively identified by the medical examiner and his family was notified.

Officials believe he was responsible for all the bombing incidents since March 2, but are unsure of a motive.

"We still need to remain vigilant to ensure that no other packages or devices have been left through the community," Manley said.

Manley said surveillance teams located a vehicle linked to the suspect parked at a hotel in Round Rock. As they waited for a tactical unit to arrive, the vehicle drove away. Law enforcement pursued the suspect, who stopped in a ditch along the road. As the APD SWAT team approached, Manley said, the suspect detonated a bomb. An officer also shot at him.

President Trump tweeted about the news this morning:

Five explosions have taken place across the city and in Schertz since March 2, killing two people and injuring four others.

On Tuesday, two package bombs were found at FedEx facilities – one in Schertz and another on McKinney Falls Road by the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The first package exploded on an conveyor; the second was defused by authorities. Authorities linked the packages to a FedEx Office in Sunset Valley.

This story is developing. We will update as soon as we have more information.</s>The man who police believe was behind a series of package bombings in Austin, Texas, has died after detonating an explosive device inside his car, officials said Wednesday morning. The man has been identified as Mark Anthony Conditt, according to the Associated Press.

“This is the culmination of three very long weeks for our community,” Austin Police Department Chief Brian Manley said during a press conference Wednesday, adding that there have been “far too many tragedies in the last few weeks.” Two people have died as a result of the attacks.

The news came a day after a fifth package bomb, believed to be linked to the investigation, exploded at a FedEx distribution center in Schertz just after midnight on Tuesday, leaving one employee with non-life-threatening injuries. An explosion at an Austin Goodwill store on Tuesday was originally thought to be connected as well, but turned out to be unrelated, according to authorities.

Here’s what we know about the suspect so far.

Who was the Austin bombing suspect?

The suspected Austin bomber, who law enforcement called a 24-year-old white male, has been identified as Mark Anthony Conditt, a law enforcement official told the AP. Pflugerville Mayor Victor Gonzales told AP that the suspect lived in the Austin suburb.

Police recently received information about the suspect, Manley said, after which he quickly moved from a person of interest to a suspect. Law enforcement officials tracked the vehicle the suspect was known to drive, and found him at a hotel in Round Rock, outside Austin.

FedEx said it provided authorities with “extensive evidence” captured by its security system, CNN reports. CBS Austin published images of an individual believed to be the suspect, possibly wearing a wig and gloves, inside a South Austin FedEx store.

Yes. Police believe the 24-year-old suspect built all the bombs that exploded in Austin. As police monitored the suspect’s vehicle early Wednesday at a hotel, it began to drive away, Manley said. Authorities pursued the vehicle, and it eventually ran into a ditch on the side of the road. As SWAT officers approached, a bomb went off inside the car, killing the suspect. One officer sustained minor injuries in the blast, Manley said.

Are there more suspects in the Austin bombings?

It’s “hard to say” whether the bombing suspect had help, according to Fred Milanowski, an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Investigators said it does appear that the same person built all of the explosive devices in question.

Manley also said there is some concern that other packages may have been left around Austin before the suspect died. “We don’t know where this suspect has spent his last 24 hours and therefore we still have to remain vigilant to ensure that no other packages have been left throughout the community,” Manley said.

What was the Austin bomber’s motive?

No motive has been identified at this point, Manley said. Some observers noted that the suspect’s alleged actions could be race-related, since the first package bombs killed two black men and injured a Hispanic woman, but Manley earlier told the Associated Press that police were not “making the connection to a hate crime,” after doing so at first.

The bomb that exploded from a suspected trip wire on Sunday night injured two white men.

President Donald Trump reacted enthusiastically to news of the suspect’s death, tweeting his praise for law enforcement.

Manley also tweeted his thanks to officers and federal partners on Wednesday.</s>The suspect linked to a series of bombings that terrorized the city of Austin, Texas is dead after he detonated a bomb inside his vehicle while attempting to flee police Wednesday morning.

CBS affiliate KEYE in Austin reports the US Marshal's Lone Star Fugitive Task Force - Austin Division - gathered the video and helped the lead agencies get an idea of where the suspect was located. That led them to a Red Roof Inn location in Round Rock, Texas.

Officers surrounded the hotel and waited for a tactical team to arrive but the suspect got in his vehicle and began to leave. Officers then converged on the vehicle and the suspect detonated a bomb, killing him instantly.

One of the officers sustained minor injuries after being blown back by the explosion.

The suspect has not been positively identified. He's only described as a 24 year-old white male.

Police have not determined a motive for the bombings.

Watch: Austin PD Chief Brian Manley press conference (app users, tap here for the video)</s>Mark Anthony Conditt has been identified as the deadly Austin bomber by the Associated Press.

Authorities have not officially disclosed the name suspected of Austin serial bomber who killed himself Wednesday morning after detonating a bomb as police were closing in.

Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said police had tracked the suspect’s vehicle to a nearby hotel and were waiting for ballistic and tactical vehicles to arrive. While they were waiting, the suspect got into his vehicle and began to drive.

Police swarmed his car near the side of the road on Interstate 35 and he detonated a bomb inside the car, blowing back a SWAT officer who suffered minor injuries, Chief Manley said at an early morning press conference in Round Rock, Texas, as he was flanked by ATF and FBI officials. Another officer then fired his weapon at the car.

The chief confirmed the “suspect is deceased with significant injuries,” but would not release the suspect’s name until the next-of-kin was notified.

Police said the suspect was a 24-year-old white male and they don’t have a motive. They also said they don’t know if he was working alone.

Chief Manley said the community must remain vigilant.

The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.</s>The suspect in the spate of bombings in Austin is dead, CBS Austin affiliate KEYE-TV reports.

The station says the suspect was being pursued by police, detonated some type of device, and was killed.

It was unclear if that was linked in any way to earlier reports of an officer-involved shooting in Austin.</s>Austin, Texas (CNN) As the Austin bomber sensed that authorities were closing in on him on Tuesday night, he took out his cell phone and recorded a 25-minute video confessing to building the explosive devices -- but didn't explain why he targeted his victims, interim Austin police Chief Brian Manley said.

"It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his life that led him to this point," the interim chief said. "I know everybody is interested in a motive and understanding why. And we're never going to be able to put a (rationale) behind these acts," Manley told reporters Wednesday night.

The video made by Mark Anthony Conditt, whose string of package bombs killed two people and wounded five in Texas, was found on his cell phone when police recovered his body Wednesday morning. The cell phone was in Conditt's possession at the time of his death, police said.

Manley says that Conditt did not make any terror- or hate-related references in the confession.

Hours after he made the video, police found Conditt leaving a hotel. They followed him until they made a move to stop him from getting on an interstate and Conditt ended up in a ditch.

Authorities say Conditt, 23, killed himself with his last explosive device.

Federal agents went to the bomber's home Wednesday while police interviewed his roommates, attempting to determine whether any bombs remained and if Conditt acted alone.

Mark Anthony Conditt

Latest developments

JUST WATCHED How police tracked down Austin bomber Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How police tracked down Austin bomber 02:39

• Authorities think they have accounted for every bomb Conditt made, Manley said.

• The interim chief said the bomber indicated in his video that he would have continued his attacks if police hadn't been getting close to finding him.

• Conditt, 23, lived in Pflugerville, a city just outside Austin, officials said.

• Officers detained and questioned Conditt's two roommates Wednesday. Neither person was under arrest, Austin police said.

• An arrest warrant for Conditt and a criminal complaint charging him with one count of unlawful possession and transfer of a destructive device were filed Tuesday night, authorities said. An affidavit detailing the reasons for the warrant and charge is under seal, they said.

• An aunt of Conditt's said her family is "devastated and broken at the news that our family could be involved in such an awful way."

• Austin police on Wednesday morning conducted a "follow-up investigation" at the FedEx facility where an intact bomb was found a day earlier, the agency tweeted . The building was temporarily evacuated, but police said normal business "will resume."

• Conditt was an Austin Community College student from 2010 to 2012 but did not graduate, the school said.

The bomber died in an explosion in his car as police closed in Wednesday morning.

No more bombs found

Fred Milanowski, the special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Houston office, said one room in the house in Pflugerville where Conditt lived had components for making similar bombs to the ones that exploded in a string of incidents this month. There was also similar homemade explosive material in the room.

No finished bombs were found, he said.

In response to a question from CNN on how the bomber could have kept his activities from his roommates, Milanowksi said there was a room with a lock on it, but he didn't specify whether it was the same room where the bombmaking material were found.

Neighbor Mark Roessler said agents were there Wednesday morning and stopped him when he walked down his driveway to see what was going on.

Roessler said he very seldom saw Conditt and usually only in passing.

"He was a quiet, very polite, respectful young man," he said. "Conversations that I had with him and with the family were all nothing that would ever lead you to believe that anything like this could ever be possible."

Conditt blew himself up as police approached, police say

An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday night for Conditt's arrest.

Authorities tracked him to a hotel in Round Rock, about 20 miles north of Austin, after reportedly identifying him using receipts, internet searches, witness sketches and, ultimately, surveillance video that revealed he'd delivered packages days earlier to an area FedEx store, officials said.

Authorities were outside the hotel early Wednesday when Conditt got in his vehicle and drove away. They followed him until he was forced into a ditch on the side of Interstate 35 in Round Rock, north of Austin, and detonated a bomb, police said. The blast injured a SWAT officer.

Another SWAT officer fired a gun at Conditt, Manley said; it wasn't immediately clear whether Conditt was shot.

Manley later said that Conditt's wounds from the explosion were significant.

Video and an intact package may have helped ID Conditt

Video of a man dropping off two packages Sunday at a location described by CNN affiliate WOAI as a FedEx store south of Austin appears to have played a major role in helping investigators identify Conditt.

The surveillance images show a man wearing gloves, a black T-shirt and a cap taking two packages into the shop. WOAI published the surveillance images , and Austin Mayor Steve Adler told CNN that police believe the person in the images was responsible for the bombings.

This surveillance image from a shipping store in the Austin area shows a gloved man leaving two packages Sunday at a counter, CNN affiliate WOAI reported. Austin Mayor Steve Alder told CNN that man is the Austin bombing suspect.

Police haven't explicitly said what happened to the packages in that video. But early Tuesday, in the last known blast before Conditt killed himself, a package exploded on an automated conveyor at a FedEx sorting center near San Antonio, slightly injuring a worker there.

Also Tuesday, an unexploded package bomb was discovered at another FedEx facility near Austin.

"Police say that they used that (video) as the final piece to put all of this together, really in the past 24 hours," Tony Plohetski, an investigative reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, told CNN's "New Day."

FedEx said it provided authorities with "extensive evidence" from its security system on the packages and the person who shipped them.

The explosions

The first three explosions in Austin involved cardboard packages left in front yards or on porches. The parcels weren't delivered by the US Postal Service or services such as UPS or FedEx, police have said.

Those blasts -- one on March 2 and two more on March 12 -- killed or wounded three African-Americans and one Hispanic woman. They happened in east Austin areas where most residents are minorities, and some there expressed concern the attacks might have been racially motivated

The first explosion killed Anthony Stephan House, 39; the second killed Draylen Mason, 17; and the third critically injured a 75-year-old woman. Police have not ruled out the possibility that those bombings could be hate crimes.

In the fourth blast, on Sunday, a device was triggered by a tripwire, injuring two white men in an area where most residents are white.

The fifth explosion happened early Tuesday at the FedEx sorting facility near San Antonio.

"There was no reason given (in Conditt's cell phone video) why he selected those individuals," Manley said Wednesday night.

Conditt's family 'devastated'

One of Conditt's aunts released a prepared statement Wednesday, saying his relatives were "devastated and broken at the news that our family could be involved in such an awful way."

"We had no idea of the darkness that Mark must have been in," the statement reads. "Our family is a normal family in every way. We love, we pray, and we try to inspire and serve others.

"Right now our prayers are for those families that have lost loved ones, for those impacted in any way, and for the soul of our Mark. We are grieving and we are in shock. Please respect our privacy as we deal with this terrible, terrible knowledge and try to support each other through this time."

This story has been updated to correct Mark Anthony Conditt's age to 23, based on public records. Earlier, police identified the suspect as a 24-year-old man.</s>The suspect blew up a series of packages around the Austin area in the past few weeks.

Mark Anthony Conditt has been identified as the suspected Austin bomber, a 24-year-old white man who police say terrorized the area with a series of bombs sent in the mail before blowing himself up in the early morning hours on Wednesday.

As CNN reported, police in Austin area were able to identify the suspected bomber after receiving information in the last 24 to 36 hours that led them to a person of interest. They were then able to obtain surveillance images from a FedEx store in Austin and found a series of purchases that led them to identify the suspect’s car outside a Red Roof Inn in Round Rock, Texas. Conditt’s identity was first reported by NBC News.

As the report noted, after being identified, suspected Austin bomber Mark Anthony Conditt drove a short distance and stopped by the side of the road. The man detonated an explosive device as SWAT teams approached the car, the report noted.

As CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported, there are suspicions that Mark Anthony Conditt may not have worked alone in the Austin bombings. Hector Tarango, a retired agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, had told the news outlet before the suspect was identified that he believed the bomber would be between the ages of 20 and 30, well-educated, and a resident of the area.

Tarango said that Mark Anthony Conditt was likely not working alone.

“These happening so quickly, I think he has someone that’s helping him very much like the DC Sniper case,” Tarango said. “There was two people, he had a lookout and a guy shooting and vice versa. So I think he’s probably working in tandem with someone else.”

Though Mark Anthony Conditt is dead, police said they are not yet sure if the terror that struck Austin is over. As Sky News reported, police are unsure if there could be more bombs that were mailed before the suspect was killed, noting that they did not know his whereabouts for the last 24 hours. They called on people in the Austin area to continue to be vigilant.

Police have not yet released a motive for suspected Austin bomber Mark Anthony Conditt or details on how or where the explosive devices were made. They have also not yet said if the Austin bomber was working alone or if he may have had an accomplice.</s>Law enforcement warned the public that Mark Anthony Conditt may not have worked alone and that additional explosives may be planted around the city.

After a string of five explosions killed two people and injured five others in Austin and a suburb of San Antonio, law enforcement launched a manhunt in search of the perpetrator. Police eventually cornered Mark Anthony Conditt who reportedly detonated a bomb inside his vehicle and ended his own life.

While authorities hope that this explosion will be the last one in Austin for years to come, they have warned the public to stay vigilant. Conditt may not have acted alone, CNN reported.

Federal agents from the Houston office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted a search of Conditt’s home on Wednesday. While no finished explosive devices were discovered, ATF special agent Fred Milanowski said that “homemade explosive material” was found in Conditt’s room.

In another space in the house, agents report finding materials similar to the ones used to create the five bombs that exploded in Austin and at a FedEx facility outside San Antonio. Austin police questioned Conditt’s roommates while the agents combed through the alleged bomber’s home.

Authorities have gathered evidence of Conditt’s activities in the weeks leading up to his capture and demise, but Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said that it is possible that other rigged packages or devices may have been planted around the city, according to CNN. Manley warns that their investigation is not yet complete and the suspect’s whereabouts during the last 24 hours of his life are largely unaccounted for.

Manley also said that the investigation has not revealed a motive. There are still looming concerns about whether or not the 23-year-old man acted alone. A secondary sweep of the FedEx facility near San Antonio was conducted as a precaution. Police expected the hub to return to normal operations on Wednesday.

CNN reported that the family was unable to provide any insights into Conditt’s motives for his alleged crimes. One of his aunts said that the family was “devastated” by the news of his involvement. By all accounts so far, Conditt was said to live an otherwise quiet life in Pflugerville not far from his parents’ residence. He attended Austin Community College from 2010-2012 but did not obtain a degree.</s>Police have identified the Austin serial bombing suspect as Mark Anthony Conditt, according to a source with direct involvement in the investigation.

Little additional information about the man has been released, but police have previously said he was a 24-year-old white man capable of making sophisticated explosive devices.

Conditt killed himself when police, who had been staking out his hotel, followed him onto Interstate 35, where he pulled into a ditch and detonated an explosive device as Austin Police Department SWAT team members approached his car, according to authorities.

Here's what we know about the man accused of the deadly explosions:

It's not clear where he was from

Though Austin Police Chief Brian Manley provided reporters Conditt's age and race, it's unclear whether he lived in the Austin area.

His motive is still unknown

Police said the suspect is responsible for the bombings in Austin, but they are still investigating why he carried them out.

How did police find him?

In the past 24 to 36 hours, authorities received information that led them to a person of interest, who later became a suspect.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler confirmed that police obtained surveillance images showing the suspect at a FedEx store in Austin.

They later identified his car and spotted it Wednesday night at a hotel in Round Rock, Texas, a few miles north of Austin.

As officers waited for tactical units to arrive on the scene, the man began to drive away and later stopped on the side of the road.

It was then that SWAT officers approached the vehicle and the man detonated a bomb inside his car, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said.

Did he act alone?

It's unclear if he had any accomplices. It appears that he was alone when he drove away from the hotel in Round Rock and when he detonated a device in his car.</s>The bomber who stoked fear in Austin over the last three weeks with a deadly rash of package explosions left behind a “treasure trove” of information before he blew himself up Wednesday, official said.

Mark Anthony Conditt, 23, was identified as the “mastermind” behind a string of package bombs that killed two people and wounded at least four more since March 2, law enforcement sources told NBC News.

“We know that the mastermind behind these bombings is deceased,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said on Fox News Wednesday morning.

Cops tailed Conditt on a Texas interstate after he drove off from a Red Roof Inn parking lot outside of Austin, where they’d been watching his car for several hours.

Austin bombing suspect dead after blowing himself up

He detonated an explosive just before 3 a.m. local time, cops said, after he pulled the vehicle into a ditch and a SWAT team closed in.

Conditt’s social media accounts went “dark” in the weeks leading up to the deadly string of package bombs, the governor said.

“The things that he posted in the past, before these crimes arose, there were no red flags clearly saying, ‘this is the guy who set off these bombs,’” Abbott said.

Regardless, he said, there appeared to be enough evidence left behind at his suburban Austin home.

“I think there was a treasure trove of information in his house, as well as digital information, that should shed light more upon who he is, what he was doing and why he was doing it,” Abbott told Fox News.

But it’s unclear what drove Conditt to set off at least four bombs in Austin since March 2.

“We do not understand what motivated him to do what he did,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters. “And that will be part of the continuing investigation as we try to learn more about him and to understand why he took the actions he did.”

He lived with two roommates in Pflugerville, a suburb north of Austin, who spoke with cops early Wednesday, Abbott said on Fox News.

Austin residents on high alert even after serial bomber is killed

“I would venture to say those two roommates are not at this time suspects,” he said, adding they were cooperating with police.

The revelation sent shockwaves through Pflugerville, a community about 20 miles north of Austin.

“I know this is a cliché but I just can’t imagine that,” an unnamed neighbor told the Austin Statesman.

The suspect was home-schooled and later attended Austin Community College, the Statesman reported.

ATF special agent in charge Fred Milanowski said it’s “hard to say” at this point if he had any help.

Abbott, speaking on Fox News, said it didn’t appear Conditt ever served in the military.
Mark Anthony Conditt, the main suspect in the serial bombings, dies after detonating a bomb in his vehicle while being pursued by Austin police officers. The police chief warns residents that while they believe the bomber is deceased, he may have sent more packages before his death.