An Austin police officer directs a vehicle away from the scene of an explosion in Austin, Texas, Sunday, March 18, 2018. (Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Austin was on edge Sunday night after an explosion left two people with non-life threatening injuries in a southwestern neighborhood of Texas’ capital.
Austin police Chief Brian Manley urged residents in the area to stay inside their homes until at least daylight. He reiterated to residents not to touch or even go near any packages.
There was no immediate word on what caused the blast or if it was related to the three package bombs that were detonated earlier this month in other areas of Austin that left two people dead and two others injured.
There was no immediate word on what caused the blast or if it was related to the three package bombs that were detonated earlier this month in other areas of Austin that left two people dead and two others injured. (Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Police blocked entrances to the neighborhood where Sunday’s blast occurred and put up yellow tape about half-a-mile from the home where it happened.
Manley said police were working to clear a suspicious backpack.
Police said two men in their mid-20s were injured in the blast. KVUE-TV reported that one man had nails in his leg.
A witness speaking to Fox 7 described hearing a “loud bang,” adding that it was “not a car crash, not gunshots but something terrible.”
A package bomb exploded at an east Austin home on March 2, killing a 39-year-old man. Two package bombs in other parts of the city exploded last Monday, killing a 17-year-old, wounding his mother and injuring a 75-year-old woman.
A witness speaking to Fox 7 described hearing a “loud bang,” adding that it was “not a car crash, not gunshots but something terrible.” (Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Officials said the bombings appeared to be related, but Manley said investigators didn’t know a possible motive or “what the ideology is behind this.”
Earlier Sunday, Austin police said the reward for information leading to an arrest in the deadly explosions has risen by $50,000 to a new total of $115,000. Manley said more than 500 officers, including federal agents, have conducted 236 interviews in following up 435 leads.
Fox News’ Michael Arroyo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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