A mysterious social media user claims to be behind the bombings that have terrorized Texas in recent weeks, vowing that he won’t stop until he becomes “as prolific as the Zodiac Killer.”
“My intention is not to kill people. I am doing this simply because I want to watch the world burn,” someone using the handle “austinbomber” posted on Reddit Tuesday.
The anonymous user made a string of disturbing messages in which he compared himself to the Zodiac, the notorious serial killer who was never caught or identified even though he murdered at least five people in California in the 1960s and ’70s.
The self-professed Austin bomber denied suggestions that the attacks are racially motivated.
“It’s not race-related like the media has speculated,” one message read. “I also enjoy laughing at the massive police presence that just simply cannot find or deanonymize me.”
The poster said he’s “30-50 years old,” and insisted that he doesn’t have “any terminal illness or anything like that.” The account was quickly suspended and its messages scrubbed from the site.
A spokesman for the Austin Police Department confirmed to The New York Daily News that authorities are aware of the unsettling posts.
“We are currently investigating them,” the spokesman said, declining to confirm whether the Reddit user is considered a suspect.
Two people have been killed and at least five have been injured in five blasts that have rocked the Austin area since March 2. Authorities suspect that they have a serial bomber on their hands, as the bombs have been delivered and manufactured in similar manners.
A blast on a residential street Sunday became all the more terrifying after Austin Police Chief Brian Manley confirmed that it had been triggered by a tripwire and manufactured with “a higher level of sophistication.”
The latest explosion rocked a FedEx depot outside San Antonio Tuesday, injuring at least one person. FBI officials told local outlets that the package bomb was bound for Austin.
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