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Austin serial bomber was willing to commit other attacks, says police; accused's roommates questioned

The serial bomber who terrorised the US state of Texas for weeks left a 25-minute video confession on his mobile phone, where he addressedproblems in his personal life that led him to launch the attacks. However, there was no sense of remorse in the videos, the police said.

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The serial bomber who terrorised the US state of Texas for weeks left a 25-minute video confession on his mobile phone, where he addressedproblems in his personal life that led him to launch the attacks. However, there was no sense of remorse in the videos, the police said.

The video made by 23-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt, whose string of package bombs killed two people and wounded five in Texas, was found on his cell phone when police recovered his body on March 20, interim police chief Brian Manley said.

Conditt did not make any terror- or hate-related references in the confession for the bombings that started on March 2, Manley said.

Conditt died after setting off an explosion in his car as officers closed in on him, he made the 25-minute video, found on his phone, in which he describes the differences between the explosive devices in detail, Manley said.

Manley said there appeared to be no specific reasons why Conditt targeted the people who were killed or injured in the attacks that terrorised the Austin capital for 19 days.

"He does not at all mention anything about terrorism nor does he mention anything about hate," Manley said, "but instead, it is the outcry of a challenged young man, talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point." Manley said the recording indicated that Conditt was willing to commit other acts.

After identifying Conditt as the suspect, police located him in a Round Rock motel parking lot. Several officers staked out at a distance while they waited for tactical teams and its ballistic protection equipment.

While they were waiting, however, Conditt drove out of the parking lot, Manley said.

Officers used a tactical approach to stop his vehicle, and when they approached and banged on the windows, an explosion went off, he said.

The family of Conditt's, who live in Colorado feel devastated and said they home schooled him and raised him well.

Residents in Austin, a city of 1 million people and a liberal enclave of university students and tech companies, voiced relief that the hunt for the serial bomber was over.

Residents who live in that area can safely return to their homes now, police said.

Meanwhile officials are also checking to see whether Conditt had any help in committing the crimes. They had earlier quizzed Conditt's roommates about his activities.

"Even though the bomber's dead, our focus is to ensure that he wasn't working with anyone else," said Michelle Lee, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's San Antonio office. "We're really working to make sure that that wasn't the case."

The attacks drew national attention when the second and third bombs went off while the city was hosting its annual South by Southwest music, movies and tech festival, which draws about half a million people.

"We may never get a clear picture of what motivated the Austin bomber," Fred Burton, chief security officer for security consultancy Stratfor and a former counterterrorism agent with the U.S. State Department, said in a phone interview.

 

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