An incendiary device that was an “old military-type” ordnance detonated in Austin, injuring an employee. However, police now say the incident was not a “package explosion” or bomb, and they “have no reason to believe” it’s related to the serial Austin bombings that have terrified the community.
(UPDATE: The Austin bomber was cornered on March 21 in Round Rock and killed himself by detonating another device in his car. The deceased bomber was a 24-year-old white male, the police chief, Brian Manley, said. He did not provide other details of the bomber’s identity, including his name. “We do not understand what motivated him to do what he did,” the chief said. “We do believe all of these are related, and that he was responsible for all of these” bombings. Read more here.”
In a press conference, Austin police said the call came in as a “bomb hotshot call” at the Goodwill on March 20, 2018. “Officers determined that a Goodwill employee had found a box that someone dropped off that contained some items that that employee didn’t think Goodwill wanted to have,” police said. Another employee took the box around the corner and found “two small devices that were artillery simulators that looked like some type of military ordnance or looked like some type of memento.” A device went off, and the employee was injured but is recovering.
“This was not an explosive device. This incident is not related to any of the other incidents we’ve had in Austin. This was an old military-type ordnance that initiated in this person’s hand,” police said, adding that they were six-inch long artillery simulator devices.
However, according to Buzzfeed News, the Texas Attorney General contradicted the cops and ATF when he, shortly before the police news conference “refuted the idea that the Goodwill incident is unrelated,” saying on television: “The people on the ground that I’m talking to…they really believe this is the same bomber.” The police said, “I can’t comment on what the Attorney General said.” After getting off Fox News, the AG told a local show, that he’d heard “two different opinions” on whether the Goodwill explosion is tied to the previous bombings. “I don’t know at this time what the right answer is, but I think we’ll know soon,” he said.
Texas Attorney General just refuted the idea that the Goodwill incident is unrelated: "The people on the ground that I'm talking to...they really believe this is the same bomber"
The incident does show how tense the community is right now. Police dispatch traffic was rife with calls about suspicious packages, sending authorities rushing from one scene to the next. “They look to be legitimate Amazon packages,” an officer said in one such unrelated transmission. The Brodie Goodwill call, though, generated massive response both from law enforcement and, then, from the news media.
“#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 wrote on Twitter just after 8 p.m. on March 20, 2018.
#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
The police update confused a lot of people. “Incendiary device means bomb. Please explain,” wrote one person on Twitter. “What?? Isn’t an incendiary device a bomb?? Explain please! I’m confused. I live very close to that and my anxiety is in high gear right now!” wrote another. A lawyer named Jason Trumpler wrote on the police thread, “I was in the parking lot of the Randalls getting my car with kids. There was a loud sound followed by a noxious smokey odor. Call it whatever you want.”
If you're not a serial package bomber, who among us drops off an incendiary device at Goodwill?
So this bomb tonight was NOT a bomb.
KVUE-TV provided further details after interviewing Goodwill. “Employee saw something unusual that looked like a pipe, CEO of Goodwill of Central Texas tells KVUE. The employee started to take it out, it dropped and blew up,” the television station alleged. Goodwill closed its stores and stopped taking donations as a precaution.
A photo showed smoke at the scene, but KVUE reported that police say a car fire nearby was unrelated, which police confirmed and which could also explain why some people were smelling fumes. According to U.S. Legal.com, an “incendiary device” is defined as “any firebomb, and any device designed or specially adapted to cause physical harm to persons or property by means of fire, and consisting of an incendiary substance or agency and a means to ignite it.”
@Austin_Police needs to clarify...so was it a bomb or not that detonated at Goodwill? Was there a 2nd package or not? And what is up with this cop car on fire at the scene?
The ATF disseminated the same information, though, writing, “BREAKING: ATF responded to a reported incident in the 9800 block of Brodie Lane, Austin. It was not a package bomb. An incendiary device was located, one injured. At this time, it does not appear to be related to the #packagebombmurders.” Authorities have not explained further.
There were initial fears – fueled by official reports of another “package explosion” – that the Goodwill blast marked a possible sixth explosion in the serial bombings that have terrified the Texas community. One reporter said you could smell “smoke in the air” after the blast.
The blast injured “an employee at the Goodwill store in the area. The employee was looking in the donation box when the device exploded,” KVUE-TV reported. There might be a second device at the location.
