Neighbors near the area of a fourth explosion in Austin during the month of March are remaining on high alert after their "quiet and family-friendly neighborhood" was disrupted by the blast Sunday night.
"It's just kind of scary to think...I mean, I walked by with our dogs earlier," said a woman, who lives at the Preserve at Travis Creek and heard the explosion while she was watching March Madness with her sister.
The woman said she and her sister contemplated whether or not the blast was thunder or a gunshot.
"It was just a really loud -- one-off thing," she said.
Interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley confirmed at a press conference that the noise was, in fact, an explosion, and said the police are investigating whether or not it was triggered by a tripwire. Two men in their 20s were injured in the blast but they're expected to recover.
Police said while they do believe the March 19 explosion is connected to the other three explosions that have occurred in March, they noted that this latest explosion doesn't follow the same pattern. The device that was triggered wasn't placed on a front doorstep but was instead placed on the side of the road. Manley said the victims were either walking or riding their bikes when they unknowingly set off the device.
The woman said the explosion is unsettling for the neighborhood because it isn't uncommon to see people walking around outside.
"Everyone's always out, jogging up and down the Republic of Texas Highway. Everyone's walking their dogs, pushing their kids in their strollers. It's just a very quiet family-oriented area," she said.
The woman said she's already decided to check around her car in the morning because of the changed MO of the suspect(s).
"If it was somebody deliberately placing a package or something and they were in this area earlier and deliberately placed something...an explosive or whatever it is, in the area, it's scary," she said.