AUSTIN, Texas - Austin Police continue to investigate the package bombings that left two dead and two others injured, but residents have been hoping for more updates.
Police declined multiple requests Thursday to discuss the case, citing a lack of new information. Instead, Interim Chief Brian Manley provided a brief update at a community meeting Thursday night, saying there are more than 300 federal investigators assisting with the case.
Investigators cleared the scene of the last package explosion on Wednesday night. The blast occurred around 11:50 a.m. Monday in Southeast Austin near Montopolis Dr. and Riverside Dr. At last report Tuesday, the75-year-old woman injured by the blast was still hospitalized and is in critical condition.
Family friends replaced the door at the house of the third blast and spent Thursday cleaning up the yard. Orange paint marks the street for a one-block radius where debris fell from that blast.
Isidro Gonzales knows the victim well; he said family was important to her. Gonzales said the house belongs to the victim's elderly mother.
"Her mother has been here a long time," he said. "She would come and see her mother every day and make sure if she needed anything from the store."
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Investigators say a package exploded when the victim picked it up from the porch of the house.
"Every time I see her coming through here, she would wave at me," he said. "She is really friendly."
Police have said several times that the victims may not have been the intended targets. A woman by the last name of Mason lives two doors down from the third victim's home. However, records show she is from Iowa and not related to Draylen Mason, 17, who died in Monday morning's attack near Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and Springdale Rd. His mother was also injured in the blast.
Spectrum News reached out to another woman with the same first and last name as the neighbor of the third blast. She said she is not related to either Mason family, and she was out of town at the time. She said investigators had not yet contacted her.
The first explosion occurred around 6:55 a.m. on March 2 near Harris Ridge Blvd. and Howard Ln. in Northeast Austin. That blast killed Anthony House, 39.
Police warn everyone to remain vigilant until the suspect or suspects are caught. If you receive a package you are not expecting or find one that seems suspicious, call 911. Austin Police are working with the ATF and the U.S. Postal Service to inspect all suspicious packages.