With police near, suspected Austin bomber blows himself up

As a SWAT team closed in, the suspected bomber whose deadly explosives terrorized Austin for three weeks used one of his own devices to blow himself up. But police warned that he could have planted more bombs before his death, and they cautioned the city to stay on guard.

Mark Anthony Conditt, an unemployed college dropout who bought bomb-making materials at Home Depot, was tracked down using store surveillance video, cellphone signals and witness accounts of a customer shipping packages in a disguise that included a blond wig and gloves. His motive remained a mystery.

Officials investigate the scene where a suspect in a series of bombing attacks in Austin blew himself up as authorities closed in, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Round Rock, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Officials investigate the scene where a suspect in a series of bombing attacks in Austin blew himself up as authorities closed in, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Round Rock, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Police finally found the 23-year-old early Wednesday at a hotel in a suburb north of Austin. Officers prepared to move in for an arrest. When the suspect's sport utility vehicle began to drive away, they followed.

Conditt ran into a ditch on the side of the road, and SWAT officers approached, banging on his window. Within seconds, the suspect had detonated a bomb inside his vehicle, blasting the officers backward, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said.

One officer then fired his weapon at Conditt, the chief said. The medical examiner has not finalized the cause of death, but the bomb caused "significant" injuries, he said.

Officials investigate the scene where a suspect in a series of bombing attacks in Austin blew himself up as authorities closed in, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Round Rock, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Officials work at a blocked off area near where a suspect in a series of bombing attacks in Austin blew himself up as authorities closed in, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Round Rock, Texas. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Police discovered a 25-minute video recording on a cellphone found with Conditt, which Manley said he considers a "confession" to the bombings. It described in great detail the differences among the bombs, he said, but no motive.

"It is the outcry of a very challenged young man talking about challenges in his own life," Manley said of the recording.

Law enforcement officials did not immediately say whether Conditt acted alone in the five bombings in the Texas capital and suburban San Antonio that killed two people and badly wounded four others. Fred Milanowski of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said investigators were confident that "the same person built each one of these devices."

Investigators released few details about Conditt, except his age and that he was white. Neighbors say he was home-schooled. He later attended Austin Community College from 2010 to 2012, according to a college spokeswoman, but he did not graduate.

Officials investigate near a vehicle, center, where a suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorized Austin blew himself up as authorities closed in on him, in Round Rock, Texas, Wednesday, March 21, 2018. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Officials remove a car of the suspect in a series of bombing attacks in Austin from the scene where he blew himself up as authorities closed in, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Round Rock, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

In a 2012 online blog that the college spokeswoman said Conditt created as part of a U.S. government class project, he gives his opinion on several issues, often in response to someone else's commentary. Conditt wrote that gay marriage should be illegal, argued in favor of the death penalty and gave his thoughts on "why we might want to consider" eliminating sex offender registries.

In the "about me" section of the blog, Conditt wrote that he wasn't "that politically inclined" but did view himself as conservative.

Jay Schulze, who lives in Pflugerville, said he was jogging Tuesday night when he was stopped by police and asked about the bombings. He said police flew drones over Conditt's home for about six hours between Tuesday evening and early Wednesday morning.

Schulze described the home as "a weird house with a lot of people coming and going" and a bit rundown.

A neighbor who watched Conditt grow up said he always seemed smart and polite. Jeff Reeb said he has lived next to Conditt's parents for about 17 years and described them as good neighbors. Conditt had visited his parents regularly, he said.

Officials remove a car of the suspect in a series of bombing attacks in Austin from the scene where he blew himself up as authorities closed in, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Round Rock, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Officials remove a car of the suspect in a series of bombing attacks in Austin from the scene where he blew himself up as authorities closed in, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Round Rock, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Conditt's family released a statement saying they had "no idea of the darkness that Mark must have been in." His uncle, Mike Courtney, said his nephew was a "computer geek" who was intelligent and kind.

Austin was hit with four bombings starting on March 2. The first explosions were from packages left on doorsteps. Then a bomb with a tripwire was placed near a public trail. A fifth parcel bomb detonated early Tuesday at a FedEx distribution center near San Antonio.

Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin, said Conditt's "fatal mistake" was walking into a FedEx store to mail a package because that allowed authorities to obtain surveillance video that showed him and his vehicle, along with his license plate number. From there, investigators could identify the suspect and eventually track him using his cellphone.

Police warned of the possibility that more bombs had yet to be found.

Officials continue to investigate the scene where a suspect in a series of bombing attacks in Austin blew himself up as authorities closed in, Wednesday, March 21, 2018, in Round Rock, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

ADDS THE YEAR 2010, WHEN THE PHOTO CREATED - This 2010 student ID photo released by Austin Community College shows Mark Anthony Conditt, who attended classes there between 2010 and 2012, according to the school. Conditt, the suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorized Austin, blew himself up early Wednesday, March 21, 2018, as authorities closed in on him, bringing a grisly end to a three-week manhunt. (Austin Community College via AP)

"We don't know where this suspect has spent his last 24 hours, and therefore we still need to remain vigilant to ensure that no other packages or devices have been left to the community," Manley said.

By late afternoon, federal officials had a "reasonable level of certainty" that there were no more package bombs "out in the public," said Milanowski, the agent in charge of the Houston division of the ATF. But authorities urged continued awareness just in case.

"We think we're on top of this, but we just don't know," FBI agent Chris Combs said.

Homemade explosives were recovered from Conditt's home in Pflugerville, a community where portions of "Friday Night Lights" were filmed. His two roommates were detained for questioning. One was later released.

Investigators said one room in the home contained bomb components and explosive materials but no finished bombs. They were analyzing Conditt's internet history to find out how he learned to make bombs.

Authorities surround the home of the Austin bombing suspect Mark Conditt in Pflugerville, Texas, Wednesday, March 21, 2018. Authorities say Conditt, a man suspected of planting several deadly bombs in the Texas capital this month, blew himself up in a motel parking lot overnight as a SWAT team approached his SUV. (Jay Janner /Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Isaac Figueroa said he and his brother heard sirens and helicopters around 2 a.m. Wednesday in the area and drove toward them, then cut through nearby woods on foot after they hit a police roadblock.

The 26-year-old said they saw an SUV that was pinned between large vans and "looked like it had been rammed off the road." He said police later deployed a robot to go examine the vehicle.

The suspect's death followed a day of rapid-fire developments in the case. On Tuesday, the bomb at the FedEx shipping center in suburban San Antonio exploded on a conveyer belt.

Later, police sent a bomb squad to a FedEx facility outside the Austin airport to check on a suspicious package. Authorities subsequently said that package contained an explosive that was tied to the other bombings.

Officers then recovered footage of Conditt wearing a blond wig and gloves as he turned over packages to send at a FedEx store in south Austin. That was enough to set in motion the manhunt that ended with Wednesday's fatal explosion.

NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — A long-running sandstorm at the Jersey Shore could soon come to an end as New Jersey will carry out an emergency beach replenishment project at one of the state's most badly eroded beaches.

North Wildwood and the state have been fighting in court for years over measures the town has taken on its own to try to hold off the encroaching seas while waiting — in vain — for the same sort of replenishment projects that virtually the entire rest of the Jersey Shore has received.

It could still be another two years before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection begin pumping sand onto North Wildwood's critically eroded shores. In January, parts of the dunes reached only to the ankles of Mayor Patrick Rosenello.

But the mayor released a joint statement from the city and Gov. Phil Murphy late Thursday night saying both sides have agreed to an emergency project to pump sand ashore in the interim, to give North Wildwood protection from storm surges and flooding.

“The erosion in North Wildwood is shocking,” Murphy said Friday. “We could not let that stand. This is something that has been out there as an unresolved matter far too long.”

Rosenello — a Republican who put up signs last summer at the entrance to North Wildwood beaches with Murphy's photo on them, telling residents the Democratic governor was the one to blame for there being so little sand on the beach — on Friday credited Murphy's leadership in resolving the impasse. He also cited advocacy from elected officials from both parties, including former Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat, and Republican Sen. Michael Testa in helping to broker a deal.

“This is a great thing for North Wildwood and a good thing for the entire Jersey Shore,” Rosenello said.

The work will be carried out by the state Department of Transportation, but cost estimates were not available Friday. Neither the governor nor the mayor could say for sure whether North Wildwood will be required to contribute to the cost of the work, although Rosenello said the town has offered to make an unspecified contribution.

The agreement could end more than a decade of legal and political wrangling over erosion in North Wildwood, a popular vacation spot for Philadelphians.

New Jersey has fined the town $12 million for unauthorized beach repairs that it says could worsen erosion, while the city is suing to recoup the $30 million it has spent trucking sand to the site for over a decade in the absence of a replenishment program.

Rosenello said he hopes the agreement could lead to both sides dismissing their voluminous legal actions against each other. But he added that more work needs to be done before that can happen. Murphy would not comment on the possibility of ending the litigation.

North Wildwood has asked the state for emergency permission to build a steel bulkhead along the most heavily eroded section of its beachfront — something previously done in two other spots.

But the state Department of Environmental Protection has tended to oppose bulkheads as a long-term solution, noting that the hard structures often encourage sand scouring against them that can accelerate and worsen erosion.

The agency prefers the sort of beach replenishment projects carried out for decades by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where massive amounts of sand are pumped from offshore onto eroded beaches, widening them and creating sand dunes to protect the property behind them.

Virtually the entire 127-mile (204-kilometer) New Jersey coastline has received such projects. But in North Wildwood, legal approvals and property easements from private landowners have thus far prevented one from happening.

That is the type of project that will get underway in the next few weeks, albeit a temporary one. It could be completed by July 4, Rosenello said.

“Hopefully by the July 4 holiday, North Wildwood will have big, healthy beaches, and lots of happy beachgoers,” he said.

Follow Wayne Parry on X, formerly Twitter, at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

FILE - Mayor Patrick Rosenello stands next to a destroyed section of sand dune in North Wildwood N.J. Jan. 22, 2024. On April 25, 2024, North Wildwood and the state of New Jersey announced an agreement for an emergency beach replenishment project there to protect the city until a full-blown beach fill can be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that may still be two years away. Winter storms punched a hole through what is left of the city's eroded dune system, leaving it more vulnerable than ever to destructive flooding. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks at a press conference in Berkeley, N.J. on April 26, 2024. A day earlier, his administration and the city of North Wildwood announced agreement on an emergency project to add sand to North Wildwod's critically eroded beaches, which have been the subject of legal and political battles for over a decade. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

FILE - This Jan. 22, 2024, photo shows a severely eroded section of sand dune in North Wildwood N.J. On April 25, 2024, North Wildwood and the state of New Jersey announced an agreement for an emergency beach replenishment project there to protect the city until a full-blown beach fill can be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that may still be two years away. Winter storms punched a hole through what is left of the city's eroded dune system, leaving it more vulnerable than ever to destructive flooding. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)

FILE - Mayor Patrick Rosenello points to a destroyed section of sand dune in North Wildwood N.J., Jan. 22, 2024. On April 25, 2024, North Wildwood and the state of New Jersey announced an agreement for an emergency beach replenishment project there to protect the city until a full-blown beach fill can be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that may still be two years away. Winter storms punched a hole through what is left of the city's eroded dune system, leaving it more vulnerable than ever to destructive flooding. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)

FILE - This Jan. 22, 2024 photo shows a severely eroded section of sand dune in North Wildwood N.J. On April 25, 2024, North Wildwood and the state of New Jersey announced an agreement for an emergency beach replenishment project there to protect the city until a full-blown beach fill can be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that may still be two years away. Winter storms punched a hole through what is left of the city's eroded dune system, leaving it more vulnerable than ever to destructive flooding. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy speaks at a press conference in Berkeley, N.J. on April 26, 2024. A day earlier, his administration and the city of North Wildwood announced agreement on an emergency project to add sand to North Wildwod's critically eroded beaches, which have been the subject of legal and political battles for over a decade. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

FILE - This Jan. 22, 2024, photo shows a severely eroded section of sand dune in North Wildwood N.J. On April 25, 2024, North Wildwood and the state of New Jersey announced an agreement for an emergency beach replenishment project there to protect the city until a full-blown beach fill can be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that may still be two years away. Winter storms punched a hole through what is left of the city's eroded dune system, leaving it more vulnerable than ever to destructive flooding. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)

FILE- Mayor Patrick Rosenello stands next to a destroyed section of sand dune in North Wildwood N.J., Jan. 22, 2024.. on April 25, 2024, North Wildwood and the state of New Jersey announced an agreement for an emergency beach replenishment project there to protect the city until a full-blown beach fill can be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that may still be two years away. Winter storms punched a hole through what is left of the city's eroded dune system, leaving it more vulnerable than ever to destructive flooding. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)