Exploding Packages in Austin!

[FlightlessDuck]

The Austin bomber is DEAD! Blew himself up into smithereens during a showdown with a S.W.A.T. team. He saved everyone having to go through a trial and wasting money to keep him in prison.

I find this kind of disappointing. I mean, you want him alive to interview, don't you? To find out why he was doing this, what his point was, what his endgame was, etc. I understand the desire to see the man dead, I do, but what if he was a part of something bigger and now we won't know?

 

[Imzadi]

I find this kind of disappointing. I mean, you want him alive to interview, don't you? To find out why he was doing this, what his point was, what his endgame was, etc. I understand the desire to see the man dead, I do, but what if he was a part of something bigger and now we won't know?

If the ATF was able to come up with the bomber's signature, then they may know of him from previous stuff he's done. So they already know a lot. They were able to have a showdown with him & corner him because of finding that signature. So they will be able to piece together more stuff.

Just as the police have been able to put together profiles and past histories of the various high school shooters, they will be able to come up with a decent profile on this guy. We live in a time of technology where people leave more clues than they realize. This bomber obviously wasn't off the grid.

 

[robinb]

The Austin bomber is DEAD! Blew himself up into smithereens during a showdown with a S.W.A.T. team. He saved everyone having to go through a trial and wasting money to keep him in prison.

And the ATF DID get him via creating a criminal profile. They meticulously put all the little pieces of a bomb together and was able to put together the bomber's signature (way he usually worked in past, known criminal dealings or bombmaking.)

There actually is a Criminal Minds episode in which the profilers catch a bomber in the same way. Only that bomber didn't get to blow himself up when caught. It was one of the episodes during the first season.

I find this kind of disappointing. I mean, you want him alive to interview, don't you? To find out why he was doing this, what his point was, what his endgame was, etc. I understand the desire to see the man dead, I do, but what if he was a part of something bigger and now we won't know?

I'm with @Imzadi on this one. Of course I am curious about why he decided to start killing people but I also don't want to sensationalize or legitimize him or his reasons. I trust that the FBI and ATF will figure out why he did it and we don't need him to tell his tale.

 

[cabanafrau]

If the ATF was able to come up with the bomber's signature, then they may know of him from previous stuff he's done. So they already know a lot. They were able to have a showdown with him & corner him because of finding that signature. So they will be able to piece together more stuff.

Just as the police have been able to put together profiles and past histories of the various high school shooters, they will be able to come up with a decent profile on this guy. We live in a time of technology where people leave more clues than they realize. This bomber obviously wasn't off the grid.

That's not what I've heard has come out about how they identified him as a suspect. Apparently he used specific custom batteries that came from his place of employment. Nothing to do with a bomber's signature.

 

[AustinTink]

Well, one of my FB friends just posted that she has known the family since before the bomber was born and asked people to not judge them. I'm sorry, but I do judge them. I just knew when it was revealed the bomber was from Pflugerville that I would know someone who knows that family. The Pflugerville, round rock, cedar park community is all very interconnected.

 

[robinb]

Well, one of my FB friends just posted that she has known the family since before the bomber was born and asked people to not judge them. I'm sorry, but I do judge them. I just knew when it was revealed the bomber was from Pflugerville that I would know someone who knows that family. The Pflugerville, round rock, cedar park community is all very interconnected.

I will hold off judging the family unless I find out that their homeschool curriculum or family values included hate that prompted the bombings. Then, they are fair game.

 

[AustinTink]

I will hold off judging the family unless I find out that their homeschool curriculum or family values included hate that prompted the bombings. Then, they are fair game.

That is where my mind went immediately when I read about the family. I went straight to judging.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I posted this on the other thread: https://www.disboards.com/threads/exploding-packages-why.3669966/page-3

Looks like the suspect was identified..and he decided to um..kill himself by blowing himself up early this morning..sorry not another way of saying it. Various articles say he was 23 or 24 years old. From the article it says he killed himself after basically being spotted and then being followed by police.

The article said "Citing a high-ranking law enforcement official, the Austin American-Statesman reported that authorities had identified the suspect based largely on information, including security video, gleaned after he sent an explosive device from an Austin-area FedEx store."

As far as motive it's still a mystery, as well as if there was any one else working with him, at the moment but the news article I was reading said this "Authorities had initially believed the bombings may be hate crimes because the victims of the earliest blasts were black, but they backed off that theory after Hispanic and white victims from different parts of the city were also affected."

News also said they are staying vigilant because they are not sure if there are more bombs that had been placed.

 

[AustinTink]

They are ordering an immediate evacuation for downtown pflugerville right now. This is the area near his home.

 

[Imzadi]

That's not what I've heard has come out about how they identified him as a suspect. Apparently he used specific custom batteries that came from his place of employment. Nothing to do with a bomber's signature.

Bomber's Signature - repeated twice between 1:05 - 1:18 regarding the previous bombs and knowing they were all made by the same person even before they pieced together the last one in the past 48 hours:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/bomb-signature-led-police-austin-suspect-officials-53899502

 

[CarolAnn856]

That's not what I've heard has come out about how they identified him as a suspect. Apparently he used specific custom batteries that came from his place of employment. Nothing to do with a bomber's signature.

Maybe I misunderstand what a bomber's signature is, but wouldn't the use of an easily identifiable component be part of a signature?

 

[Simba's Mom]

Actually since he died before he had his “day in court”, isn’t he technically just the alleged/possible bomber? But I’m trusting that he is/was. BTW, thanks for the info on downtown Pflugerville being evacuated. We’re on the road, and traveling through Pflugerville was a slow-down about 1/2 hour ago

 

[robinb]

Stay safe Texas friends!

 

[disneyjunkie]

Thank goodness this terrorist is gone.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I posted this on the wrong thread

 

[JaxDad]

Let's see if the officers in this case get charged with murder.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/unarmed-black-man-shot-death-backyard-article-1.3886562

You should probably start a separate thread for that...

 

[robinb]

You should probably start a separate thread for that...

She posted on the wrong thread .

 

[DisneyOma]

Thank goodness this terrorist is gone.

I'm also glad this crazy terrorist is gone. My younger daughter was a block away from the Boston marathon bombings when they happened. My older daughter was a student at MIT where the campus police officer was killed after the bombings. She had met him, knew him a bit. She now lives in the Houston area, and frequently goes to Austin. She got married in Austin.

I do not like this world my daughters have grown to adulthood in. I work in a school, and I feel for the next generation - the peace is gone for them.