Authorities recover new clues after another Austin blast
AUSTIN, Texas — Investigators pursuing a suspected serial bomber in the Texas capital faced new threats along with the promise of valuable new leads as their attention shifted Tuesday to a FedEx shipping centre near San Antonio where a package exploded and the discovery of another, unexploded bomb near Austin’s airport.
Even as they pored through surveillance video footage and collected evidence hoping to get closer to tracking down whoever is behind the series of blasts that have killed two people and seriously wounded four others, a Tuesday night scare caused them to respond to a Goodwill store in southern Austin. It turned out to be an unrelated explosion: Someone dropped off a device sometimes used in military training and it went off, injuring a worker.
Police said they don’t believe it was the work of the bomber, or a copycat. They said such military items are occasionally donated to Goodwill instead of being properly disposed of.
Gary Davis, president and CEO of Goodwill Texas, said the device known as an artillery simulator detonated when an employee tried to handle it.