Hours after a fourth explosion rattled a neighborhood in Southwest Austin March 18, a chief security officer with geopolitical intelligence platform Stratfor broke down his analysis with KVUE.
The night of March 18, officials responded to an explosion, possibly triggered by a tripwire, in the 4800 block of Dawn Song Drive that sent two men to the hospital. This followed three package explosions that went off on the east side of the city earlier in the month.
Fred Burton, chief security officer with Stratfor, sat down with KVUE to give his analysis of what's happened so far.
RELATED |
Deadly northeast Austin home explosion caused by 'package,' police say
'Innocent people are being hurt': Police say 3 Austin package explosions could be connected
Officials telling Austin residents 'DO NOT' open unknown packages after 3 explosions
"We have a very crafty bomber here. It's fascinating that this occurred subsequent" to the Austin Police Department increasing the reward to $115,000 for information that leads to the arrest of a suspect or suspects, Burton said. "So clearly the bomber watches the news and I think the timing is very curious in light of that."
Burton maintained that the person or persons responsible for the bombs is "the kind of person that perhaps has military experience" and is "very familiar with bombs."
"I think this is a bomber that understands he has given the cops a tremendous amount of forensics with the three previous devices, which appear to be identical," Burton said. "Which are probably a mercury or tremble switch of some sort designed to detonate when picked up."
He said bombers typically fit a particular profile.
"When you look at profiles of bombers, in all probability this is a white male, likely an individual who lives in the community," Burton said. "This is a person that could have a range of different motivations."
Burton said the public will likely be shocked when he's captured.
"I do think it's going to be surprising when he's captured, provided he's captured alive and doesn't kill himself making one of these devices," he said.
RELATED |