As the Austin Bombing Spree Ends, Lessons Emerge for Spotting the Next Killer

After evading police for 19 days, killing two people and injuring five others, the suspect behind the 2018 Austin bombings took his life with one of his own bombs early March 21. In the process, he injured one more person — a SWAT officer who was approaching bomber Mark Anthony Conditt's vehicle along Interstate Highway 35 north of Austin. Police had identified Conditt as the primary suspect behind the bombings just hours before his death following a flurry of activity the previous 48 hours. Changes in tactics, an increased operational tempo, the recovery of an undetonated device and even a false alarm at a local Goodwill store had set the city on edge....