The federal government has directed more than 500 agents to help state and local law enforcement as they investigate a fourth bombing in Austin, Texas, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley announced Monday.
“We have over 500 agents and their teams working on Austin cases alone. And we have additional resources being brought in again by both of those agencies,” Manley told reporters during a press conference Monday morning.
FBI special agent Christopher Combs said more than 350 of those federal personnel are from his agency, and many from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were also on the scene.
“It’s an unprecedented response to Austin,” Combs said during the briefing Monday.
Combs said investigators are taking the three recent mail package incidents even more seriously after the suspect used a “tripwire” to trigger a bomb during an attack Sunday night. Two men were injured in that incident.
“I want to highlight again with these packages, with this trip wire, this changes things. It’s more sophisticated. It’s not targeted to individuals,” Combs added.
Manley said investigators have seen “similarities” in the device that exploded Sunday night and the other three devices used in Austin mail bombings since March 2nd.
The Austin Police Department, the FBI, and ATF are offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the four bombings. The Texas Crime Stoppers is also offering an additional $15,000 reward.
The first three incidents consisted of unexpected packages being left outside random homes throughout the city.
