Emergency crews are responding to reports of multiple explosions with victims in Southwest Austin nearly a week after two package bombings killed a 17-year-old boy and left two women injured. Those bombings followed another fatal bombing on March 2.
According to Austin EMS, two males in their 20s were taken to the hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries after a blast at a house in the 800 block of Dawn Song Drive.
The EMS service initially responded to multiple reports of explosions, but only one incident was confirmed:
Austin Police tweeted, “APD responding to Bomb Hotshot call in the 4800 block of Dawn Song Dr. Two male patients transported with unknown injuries. Please avoid the area.”
It is not clear how many explosions there were Sunday night, what the cause was an if they are connected to the previous blasts.
Earlier Sunday, the reward for information about the three bombings was increased to $115,000:
The March 2 explosion left 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House dead. The second explosion killed 17-year-old Draylen Mason. His mother was also injured. The third explosion injured a 75-year-old Hispanic woman, but it was not clear if she was the intended target.
Police believe the bombings are connected, but have not determined a motive. There are fears in Austin that the bomber is targeting members of the black community. An African-American woman who lives near the house where the third bomb exploded was possibly mistaken to be a member of a prominent Austin family that has connections to the first two bombings, according to the Austin American Statesman. House is the son of Rev. Freddie Dixon, who is a close friend of Dr. Norman Mason, the grandfather of Draylen Mason. The woman whose house is near the third explosion has the last name Mason, but is not related to the family, the newspaper reports.
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