A FedEx package thought to be headed for Austin exploded at a facility outside San Antonio early Tuesday morning, raising more fears in Texas’ capital city that its citizens are under attack. Since March 2, three package bombs have exploded in Austin, killing two people, and on Sunday, a bomb reportedly set off by a tripwire injured two more.
On Tuesday morning, a package exploded at a ground facility in Schertz, Texas, northeast of San Antonio, slightly injuring one person, according to the Washington Post. The package exploded inside the sorting area of the facility.
The San Antonio branch of the FBI said, via CNN, that Tuesday’s explosion could be related to the other four.
Please continue to remain vigilant. pic.twitter.com/uvQrBqdCeU
— Brian Manley (@Chief_Manley) March 20, 2018
“There is an army of law enforcement folks on the scene right now. They’re getting all the resources they need,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler told CNN Monday. “This is a group that’s very determined and focused.”
More from the Austin American Statesman:
According to San Antonio media reports, the package detonated around 12:25am CT as it traveled on a conveyor belt in the Schertz facility on Doerr Lane, where about 75 employees were working at the time.
Sources told KSAT-TV and Fox San Antonio that the package blasted out metal shrapnel and nails when it exploded.
One person was hurt from the concussive force of the detonation, KENS-TV reported.
The first three blasts in Austin were centered in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, but the explosion caused by the tripwire on Sunday was detonated in a predominately white neighborhood.
“This is a public threat,” Nelson Linder, president of NAACP’s Austin chapter, told the Washington Post on Monday. “Now that the geography has changed, it’s going to widen people’s perspectives. Nobody can take this lightly; we’re all vulnerable… Like they tell us in the military, when you walk, look down at where you’re walking.”
Update 8:02pm CT, March 20: A new explosion was reported Tuesday evening outside of a Goodwill in South Austin, according to CBS. A man in his 30s was taken to St. David’s South Austin Medical Center to treat potentially serious but not life-threatening injuries.
Police said there was “no reason to believe” the incident was related to the previous package explosions.
#UPDATE: There was no package explosion in the 9800 block of Brodie Ln. Items inside package was not a bomb, rather an incendiary device. At this time, we have no reason to believe this incident is related to previous package bombs. #Breaking #packagebombmurders
— Austin Police Department (@Austin_Police) March 21, 2018
