SoylentNews

Austin Bombing Suspect Killed Himself in Explosion as SWAT Approached

posted by takyon on Wednesday March 21 2018, @10:55AM   
from the went-out dept.

Austin bomb suspect blows self up as SWAT team approached

The suspect in a spate of bombings that terrorized residents of Austin, Texas, died after detonating an explosive inside his vehicle as a SWAT team approached to apprehend him on the side of a highway, officials said.

Early Wednesday, authorities tracked the suspect — a 24-year-old white man — to a hotel in Round Rock, a city in the Austin metropolitan area, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told a news conference early Wednesday.

They tracked his vehicle until it pulled over on Interstate 35 and the suspect "detonated a bomb inside the vehicle, knocking one of our SWAT officers back and one of our officers fired on the vehicle as well," Manley said.

Austin serial bombings.

Also at CNN, BBC, and Bloomberg.

Previously: Two Injured in Fourth Package Bombing Incident this Month in Austin, Texas

• Re:Private Military Loosens Hiring Standards (Score: 3, Informative) by pTamok on Wednesday March 21 2018, @06:30PM

  by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday March 21 2018, @06:30PM (#656271)

  The SWAT team member might actually have been following the mandated procedure (rules of engagement) for this particular situation.

  If there is a reasonable suspicion that the alleged bomber has booby-trapped themselves e.g. the first bomb acts to attract first responders, then a second is triggered to kill the first responders, you are likely to work on the basis of making sure the alleged bomber is dead before approaching them after the first bomb. (Note: I'm not saying there were two bombs. All you need is reasonable suspicion that there might be.)

  You'd work on the basis of rigging the first bomb to attract attention, but not kill you, and the second to cause maximum damage. It could be the bomber (luckily for the first responders) got the calculations wrong on the first bomb, or the first triggered the second by accident.

  This is why the plain-clothes policemen in the notorious Jean Charles de Menezes [wikipedia.org] case fired multiple 'killing' head-shots* as de Menezes lay dying (or dead). The training is to hit the motor-centres of the brain from point-blank range to ensure a booby-trap can't be triggered. They are trained to do that**.

  I have no idea what the relevant SWAT team's rules might be, so this is just speculation: but the reason may not be idiocy or panic.

  *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menezes#Shooting_2

  Two officers fired a total of eleven shots according to the number of empty shell casings found on the floor of the train afterwards. Menezes was shot seven times in the head and once in the shoulder at close range, and died at the scene. An eyewitness later said that the eleven shots were fired over a thirty-second period, at three second intervals.[14] A separate witness reported hearing five shots, followed at an interval by several more shots.

  **There was controversy over this procedure. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jean_Charles_de_Menezes#Controversy_over_police_procedure [wikipedia.org]

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+2
  Informative=2, Total=2
  Extra 'Informative' Modifier		0
  Total Score:		3