AUSTIN, Texas – Police are investigating the possibility that three package bombs in Austin, Texas are somehow connected.
NBC DFW reports on Monday morning, a 17-year-old boy was killed and a woman injured by a package bomb. Just hours later, a woman in her 70s was hospitalized due to a package bomb detonation
The incidents come after a 39-year-old man was killed by another package bomb on March 2.
The three explosions occurred in different parts of Austin while thousands of visitors descend on the city for the South by Southwest music, film and technology festival.
Authorities are actively urging the public to not open any suspicious packages they aren’t expecting.
Investigators say in each instance, packages were left overnight on the victims’ doorsteps. They were not sent through any shipping company or the U.S. Postal Service.
“We don’t know what the motive behind these may be,” police Chief Brian Manley said. “We do know that both of the homes that were the recipients of these packages belong to African-Americans, so we cannot rule out that hate crime is at the core of this. But we’re not saying that that’s the cause as well.”
Police are continuing to investigate with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives taking the lead.
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