Despite 25-Minute Confession, Austin Bomber's Motives Remain Unknown, Authorities Say
Although Austin bombing suspect Mark Anthony Conditt left a 25-minute confession on a cellphone, authorities say his motive for the bombings remains unknown.
Over the span of four weeks, 23-year-old Conditt is believed to have sent a series of packages with bombs to various addresses in the Austin area, killing two people and injuring others.
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a news conference that Conditt's confession was recovered Wednesday after he killed himself in an explosion inside his vehicle.
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"I know everybody's interested in a motive and understanding why, we're not gonna be able to put a [rationale] behind these acts. But what I can tell you from listening in that recording, he doesn't at all mention anything about terrorism nor does he mention anything about hate," Manley said, according to Spectrum News Austin.
"But instead, it's the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led to this point."
An unemployed resident of Pflugerville, Texas, Conditt sent explosives through FedEx packages to various addresses. The first attack came March 2 and killed Stephan House, 39.
Ten days after that, 17-year-old Draylen Mason was killed in an explosion that also critically injured his mother. On the same day, an elderly woman was injured by another bomb.
Authorities located Conditt by tracking his cellphone. By Wednesday they closed in on him only for the suspected bomber to blow himself up.
Family expressed shock at the news, with an aunt telling CNN that she and the family were "devastated and broken at the news that our family could be involved in such an awful 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," the aunt said.
ATF special agent Fred Milanowski said in a statement reported by NBC News that authorities do not believe there are any additional undetonated explosive packages in the Austin area, but that a locked room in Conditt's home had a fair amount of bomb-making materials.
"There is componentry in there that makes us believe to a high degree of certainty that it's the same componentry that they've found in other devices," said Milanowski.
