It is not every day that an explosion rips through a relatively quiet American street. That is exactly what happened on Friday (March 2) in the northeastern part of Austin, Texas. According to police, the blast began and ended on a front porch. An unnamed man in his 40s was found critically injured but soon perished at a nearby hospital. A report by FOX News provided most of the information used in this article.
Brian Manley, the Interim Police Chief of the #Austin Police Department, told reporters that his officers first received word of the explosion at around 6:55 AM local time. Callers said that they heard a tremendous eruption at the home located in the 1110 block of Haverford Drive.
Chillingly, this information meant that the explosion occurred not too far from the Dessau Elementary School.
Upon entering the premises at approximately 7:00 AM, responding officers found a man suffering from severe injuries. These injuries were likely caused by the explosion. In response, the unidentified male was rushed to a nearby hospital. Unfortunately, the individual expired at around 11:10 AM that day. Currently, the #Case is not only being investigated by the APD, but also by the FBI and the ATF.
‘Strange device’
So far, authorities have yet to conclusively say what actually caused the explosion on Friday morning. The only word has come from Chief Manley, who labeled the culprit as “some type of device.” Chief Manley was also quick to tamper down any suspicions that this explosion may be related to terrorism.
“We have no information right now that makes us to believe that this is anything beyond an isolated incident,” Chief Manley said.
Officially, the Austin Police Department is investigating this case as a homicide. Another tantalizing clue is that federal postal inspectors are on the ground in Austin as well. They are there in order to see if the device was mailed to the deceased at any time in the recent past.
Similar cases
Fox News reporter Travis Fedschun made the case in his article that the Austin explosion bears some similarities to a 2017 case from New York. In that incident, 37-year-old Victor Kingsley tried to mail a letter bomb to a police officer as revenge for a 2014 arrest. The letter was actually opened by landlord George Wray. The 73-year-old landlord received burns over 80 percent of his body and eventually died from his injuries.
Across the border, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 51-year-old Guido Amsel was arrested and charged with mailing three letter bombs in October 2017. The bombs were sent to two different law firms and his ex-wife’s residence in 2015. Only one of the bombs detonated. This blast critically injured lawyer Maria Mitousis. Of course, given the fact that the case in Austin [VIDEO] is ongoing, there is nothing to say that the device was not built and accidentally detonated by the deceased himself. At this point, police investigators are examining all possible scenarios. #Austin Texas
Original Content from blastingnews.com