In Austin on Monday, police warned residents and tens of thousands of visitors in the city for SXSW to be on the lookout after a series of package bomb attacks in the city left one person dead and two seriously injured.
The bombings, which took place over a 10-day period, included two attacks on Monday, leaving residents and visitors on edge.
The three attacks, which killed a 17-year-old male and seriously injured an adult woman, and sent a 75-year-old Hispanic woman to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, all targeted minorities, leading investigators to suspect a racial motivation.
“These incidents are related,” Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said at a briefing on Monday. He added that “We are not ruling anything out at this point.”
Austin is in the midst of hosting the annual South By Southwest, the annual music, film, and technology conference that draws tens of thousands to the city annually. While Authorities cautioned conference attendees to be cautious, they stressed that they did not believe the explosions were tied to SXSW.