Austin bomber Identified as Mark Anthony Conditt

Austin bomber Identified as Mark Anthony Conditt

The bomber who stoked fear in Austin over the last three weeks with a deadly rash of package explosions left behind a “treasure trove” of information before he died Wednesday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said.

Mark Anthony Conditt, 23, was identified as the “mastermind” behind a string of package bombs that killed two people and wounded at least four more since March 2, law enforcement sources told NBC News.

“We know that the mastermind behind these bombings is deceased,” Abbott said on Fox News Wednesday morning.

Cops tailed Conditt on a Texas interstate after he drove off from a Red Roof Inn parking lot outside of Austin, where they’d been watching his car for several hours.

Austin bombing suspect dead after blowing himself up
He blew himself up just before 3 a.m. local time, cops said, after he pulled the vehicle into a ditch and a SWAT team closed in.Conditt’s social media accounts went “dark” in the weeks leading up to the deadly string of package bombs, the governor said.

“The things that he posted in the past, before these crimes arose, there were no red flags clearly saying, ‘this is the guy who set off these bombs,’” Abbott said.

Conditt was identified in news reports as the bomber behind a string of package explosions in the last three weeks.
Conditt was identified in news reports as the bomber behind a string of package explosions in the last three week

Regardless, he said, there appeared to be enough evidence left behind at his suburban Austin home.

“I think there was a treasure trove of information in his house, as well as digital information, that should shed light more upon who he is, what he was doing and why he was doing it,” Abbott told Fox News.

Here's how police tracked the suspected Austin bomber
But it’s unclear what drove Conditt to set off at least four bombs in Austin since March 2.

“We do not understand what motivated him to do what he did,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters. “And that will be part of the continuing investigation as we try to learn more about him and to understand why he took the actions he did.” 

He lived with two roommates in Pflugerville, a suburb north of Austin, who spoke with cops early Wednesday, Abbott said on Fox News.

Conditt set off an explosive early Wednesday as a SWAT team closed in on his car.
Conditt set off an explosive early Wednesday as a SWAT team closed in on his car.
“I would venture to say those two roommates are not at this time suspects,” he said, adding they were cooperating with police.

Austin residents on high alert even after serial bomber is killed
The revelation sent shockwaves through Pflugerville, a community about 20 miles north of Austin.

“I know this is a cliché but I just can’t imagine that,” an unnamed neighbor told the Austin Statesman.

The suspect was home-schooled and later attended Austin Community College, the Statesman reported.

ATF special agent in charge Fred Milanowski said it’s “hard to say” at this point if he had any help.