Austin, Texas Police are currently investigating two package explosions that took place today killing a 17-year-old boy and seriously injuring two older females. The first blast was reported at 6:44 am while the second blast was reported at 11:50 am.
The first package was dropped off at a single-family home on their front porch. "What we understand at this point is that earlier this morning, residents went out front, and there was a package on the front doorstep. They brought that package inside the residence and as they opened that package, both victims were in the kitchen and the package exploded causing the injuries that resulted in the young man’s death and the injuries to the adult female," Police Chief Brian Manley said.
Police think these tragic events are related to the March 2nd package bombing that killed Anthony Stephan House. Police were called to Anthony's home around 6:55 am after he opened a package dropped off at his home.
"That case was being investigated as a suspicious death," Chief Brian added. "It is now being reclassified and is now a homicide investigation as well. We are looking at these incidents as being related based on similarities that we have seen and the initial evidence that we have on hand here today compared to what we found on the scene of that explosion that took place a week back."
The reason for these bombings are unknown but the blast today and March 2nd involved African-American and Hispanic residents.
"We can not rule [out] that hate crime is at the core of this, but we’re not saying that’s the cause as well," Chief Brian said.