Incendiary device found in package at Austin Goodwill; 1 man hurt
At least one man was injured Tuesday night after coming into contact with a package containing an incendiary device at a Goodwill store in Austin, Texas, but police and the FBI said it was not believed to be linked to the string of package bombs that have killed two people over the past month.
The victim was a Goodwill employee who was looking in a donation bin, KVUE reported.
The man, in his 30s, suffered injuries that were “potentially serious, not expected to be life threatening,” the county’s EMS tweeted. Paramedics rushed him to a hospital.
Austin Goodwill spokeswoman Valerie Swift was crying when she told Fox News: “Senior Goodwill executives and law enforcement are investigating.”
The Houston division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with FBI San Antonio said they were responding with Austin police to the scene.
At least five other explosions have rocked the Austin and San Antonio areas.
Earlier Tuesday, a package exploded on a conveyor belt at a FedEx shipping center in Schertz, northeast of San Antonio, injuring a worker. Also Tuesday, the FBI said a suspicious package reported at a FedEx distribution center near the Austin airport “contained an explosive device.”
Authorities said the two packages were connected to four earlier explosions that have occurred in the state throughout March.
Congressman Michael McCaul, a representative from Texas and the chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, told The Associated Press he was told by federal authorities that investigators have obtained surveillance videos in Austin that “could possibly” show a suspect in the package bombing at a FedEx distribution center near San Antonio.
McCaul said he was briefed by the FBI, ATF and Austin police on the situation and added that he hoped the bomber’s “biggest mistake was going through FedEx.”
The detonated package bomb at the Schertz facility reportedly was sent by the same person, and from the same mail delivery officer, as the suspicious package later located at the FedEx location in Austin, according to Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who spoke to the American-Statesman. The two packages reportedly were sent from a mail delivery office in Sunset Valley, an Austin suburb south of downtown.
This is a developing story; check back for updates. Fox News’ Maggie Kerkman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
