Austin bomber Mark Anthony Conditt killed himself with an explosive device during a confrontation with police early Wednesday morning. Such an ending leaves no opportunity for Conditt to be questioned by investigators, but police have revealed that he left a 25-minute confessional video (recorded shortly before his encounter with law enforcement) that painstakingly detailed how he made each of his seven bombs.
NBC News reports word from Austin Police Chief Brian Manley, who said that Conditt revealed how he build the bombs himself due to the “level of specificity” with which he described each process. He also managed to detail how each bomb differed (information that the public couldn’t have been aware of), so police have no doubt that Conditt (especially after authorities traced his transactions and discovered him on FedEx security footage) was indeed the serial bomber. However, Manley says that Conditt didn’t reveal his motive:
“He does not at all mention anything about terrorism or anything about hate … Instead, it is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point.”
Austin residents would likely argue that they felt terrorized over the past few weeks as a series of increasingly sophisticated bombs continued to spread mayhem through the city, but police are holding back on ascribing a motive (the first devices targeted homes owned by minority residents which initially led police to believe these may be hate crimes, but the pattern changed).
Perhaps as the investigation continues, law enforcement’s perspective might change, but it’s worth noting that Las Vegas and federal authorities still haven’t determined a motive for why Stephen Paddock meticulously planned and carried out a massacre that killed 58 people and injured over 800 more. So, there may never be a motive revelation in Austin either, or maybe it’s merely a question of time before it happens.
(Via NBC News & Dallas Morning News)