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Police have not formally identified the suspect, but he has been named in US media as Mark Anthony Conditt, aged 23.
exas Governor Greg Abbot told Fox News that he lived with two flatmates in Flugerville, about 20 miles south of Austin.
He added the two flatmates have been talking to authorities, but were not suspected of any crimes.
Mr Abbot said the suspect did not destroy his online footprint, which may provide investigators with a “treasure trove of information that should shed light on who he is, what he did, and why he was doing it”.
According to USA Today, he attended the Austin Community College from 2010-2012 but did not graduate.
The Austin American-Statesman newspaper reports that he was homeschooled by his mother during his high school years. His parent’s home is now being searched by authorities, according to the newspaper.
“I officially graduated Mark from High School,” his mother wrote on Facebook in a 2013 post showing her son.
“He’s thinking of taking some time to figure out what he wants to do…maybe a [religious] mission trip,” his mother wrote.
The newspaper reports that he had recently worked for Crux Semiconductor in Austin as a “purchasing Agent/buyer/shipping and receiving”, citing a profile on a job recruiting website.
US media have uncovered a 2012 blog which was written under the suspect’s name and appeared to be for a university course that he attended.
In the blog called “Defining my Stance”, he purportedly describes beliefs that “gay marriage should be illegal”, opposition to abortion and why the sex offender registry should be eliminated.
In the blog, he defines himself as “a conservative”.
“But I don’t think I have enough information to defend my stance as well as it should be defended,” he says, adding that he is taking the course “because I want to understand the US government, and I hope that it will help me clarify my stance”.
How did events unfold?
The Austin police department on Tuesday used footage from a FedEx store in south Austin, the scene of the latest parcel bomb explosion, to identify the male suspect.
After using the Google search engine to gather information on the suspect’s online browsing history, which showed searches on facilities which were used to ship packages, authorities later managed to locate his vehicle.
In the early hours of Wednesday, local and federal officers took up positions around a parking area near a hotel in Round Rock, about 20 miles (32km) north of Austin.
As they waited for tactical teams to arrive, the vehicle started to drive away and officers pursued it.
When the vehicle eventually pulled over, armed officers approached, but the suspect then detonated a bomb, injuring one officer. Another officer opened fire.
BBC