Police Say Latest Austin Bombing May Have Been Triggered By A ‘Tripwire’

Last night, police responded to reports of another explosion in the Austin area.

Multiple #ATCEMS assets responding to an unconfirmed report of an Explosion at 4721 Eagle Feather Dr (20:32); Initial unconfirmed reports of 6 patients "on the ground". Assets still responding More to Follow…

— ATCEMS (@ATCEMS) March 19, 2018

UPDATE: Explosion incident at 4721 Eagle Feather Dr; Multiple #ATCEMS assets are staging to possibly 2 separate incidents in the area. At this incident, 2 patients have been identified and are prepping those patients for transport. More to Follow…

— ATCEMS (@ATCEMS) March 19, 2018

Multiple assets on a reported second explosion 4800 block Dawn Song Dr (2032) reports of 2 patients. Investigation if this is the same incident as already reported or a separate incident underway. More information to be provided when available.

— ATCEMS (@ATCEMS) March 19, 2018

FINAL: Critical Incident @ 4800blk Dawn Song Dr (correct incident address), Only 1 incident location has been confirmed. #ATCEMSMedics have transported X2 ~20's Males to SAMC w/serious, but not expected to be life-threatening injuries. Refer all inquires to @Austin_Police

— ATCEMS (@ATCEMS) March 19, 2018

Address Correction: This should be the 4800 block of Dawn Song Dr. Regardless, if you reside in the area please remain within your home until you are instructed otherwise by Law Enforcement officials. https://t.co/iKdLC5Z2F2

— ATCEMS (@ATCEMS) March 19, 2018

Update on explosion investigation with Chief Manley https://t.co/uMdIGx03Aj

— Austin Police Dept (@Austin_Police) March 19, 2018

Update: residents in the Travis Country neighborhood in southwest Austin are being asked to remain in their homes until the area has been properly cleared. If an emergency comes up & you need to leave your residence, call 9-1-1 & an officer will respond. Thanks for your patience. https://t.co/FNya30EYmO

— Austin Police Dept (@Austin_Police) March 19, 2018

Police say this bombing involved a “different level of skill.” They say the explosion may have been activated by a tripwire.

“It is very possible that this device was activated by someone either handling, kicking or coming in contact with a tripwire that activated the device,” Police Chief Brian Manley said.

He said the explosive device appeared to be a package left on the side of the road in a residential neighborhood and the people injured were walking or pushing their bikes when it went off. He said investigators were waiting until the sun came up to process the scene, and that they’d know more soon after that happened.

“That changes things,” he added. “Our safety message to this point has been involving the handling of packages, and telling this community ‘Do not handle packages, do not pick up packages, do not disturb packages.’ We now need to have an extra level of vigilance and pay attention to any suspicious device, whether it be a package, a bag, a backpack, anything that looks out of place.”

This is the fourth bombing incident in the last month.

Manley spoke about the incident with “Good Morning America.”

“There was a description that we may be dealing with a tripwire on this explosive and so out of an abundance of caution we’ve locked the neighborhood down to keep everybody safe and we’re going to go in at sun up this morning and begin processing the post-blast scene,” Manley said.

Here’s the entire interview.

FULL INTERVIEW: The city of Austin is hunting for a serial bomber this morning, after a fourth bombing incident overnight. @Austin_Police @chief_manley and Austin @MayorAdler speak with @DavidMuir: https://t.co/PDtyS42ZF2 pic.twitter.com/FYIbrpX18N

— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 19, 2018

Chilling. All of it. Here’s hoping they catch the POS bomber before anyone else gets hurt.

h/t Texas Tribune