Austin bomber left confession video before killing himself: Police

(Photo: Representational image (Photo: Getty Images)


The main suspect in a wave of bombing attacks in Texas capital city of Austin left a video in which he confessed his actions before committing suicide, police said.

The interim chief of the Austin Police Department (APD), Brian Manley, said at a press conference on Wednesday night that Mark Anthony Conditt did not mention his motive, hatred or terrorism in the 25-minute confession video, reports Efe news.

“It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his life that led him to this point,” the interim chief said.

The video, which Conditt recorded earlier on Wednesday, apparently also provides details on how he developed seven bombs with the same mechanism, as well as the differences between each of them.

Manley also announced that the seven bombs which Conditt talked about have been located: five exploded, killing two people; the sixth was found and deactivated before exploding, and the last one Conditt used for killing himself on Wednesday.

He activated the bomb from inside his vehicle while being cornered by the police near his house in the town of Pflugerville, a suburb of Austin.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott conveyed his condolences to the victims’ families and described Conditt as a person with many personal problems.

Federal agents on Wednesday found several homemade explosives and components necessary for making bombs in Conditt’s house.

Special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Fred Milanowski, said that the components were the same as those used in all of the bombs in Austin since the beginning of March, according to local media.

One of the factors that baffled the authorities during the investigation most was the “higher level of sophistication” of the bomb artefact, hence Milanowski said they will continue looking for evidence to find out how Conditt learned to make bombs.

Conditt’s family has issued a statement saying that his relatives were “devastated and broken at the news that our family could be involved in such an awful way”.