Second Explosion in Three Days Hits Austin

Another explosion hit Austin earlier tonight, but Austin police say that it was an “incendiary device” rather than a bomb, and that they have “no reason to believe this incident is related to previous package bombs” which have rocked the city in recent weeks.

According to the Austin-Travis County EMS, one man was wounded with “potentially serious, not expected to be life threatening” injuries. The explosion took place in southwest Austin.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that the explosion happened at a Goodwill store, and a worker was the man injured. Goodwill Austin tweeted:

Earlier today, a package bomb detonated at a FedEx facility near San Antonio, while another was found (but didn’t detonate) at a separate FedEx facility in Austin. On Sunday, a tripwire explosion injured two in southwest Austin.

The four incidents follow three that hit the city earlier this month. The first killed 39-year old Anthony Stephan House on March 2nd; two more separate explosions on March 12 killed 17-year old Draylen Mason and injured an elderly Latina woman.

Update, 10:25 P.M. ET, 03/20/2018:

Local media outlets are reporting that a rumored second possible explosive device were about a car fire unrelated to the incident:

Meanwhile, KVUE News in Austin says that the man injured earlier has been treated and released from the hospital:

Update, 12:05 AM ET, 03/21/2018: The Statesman reports that the explosion was due to a “military device in a donation box”:

A military device in a donation box injured an employee at a South Austin Goodwill store Tuesday evening in an incident that local and federal authorities determined was not related to the bombings that have recently jolted Central Texas.

An employee of the Goodwill at 9801 Brodie Lane found an artillery simulator – devices meant to simulate explosions for military training – in a box of donated items and it detonated in his hand, Austin police Assistant Chief Ely Reyes said. The victim, a man in his 30s, was treated at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center and released within a couple of hours, according to a hospital spokesperson.

It’s not clear whether the donation of the simulator was malicious, but Reyes noted that it is common for military-style mementos to find their way to donation sites if family members find them and don’t know what they are.

This is a developing story. This post will be updated as more information becomes available.