Austin bombing suspect blows himself up with swat team closing in

(AP) – A man suspected of being the bomber behind a series of explosions across central Texas blew himself up in a vehicle as a swat team approached, police have confirmed.

The suspect, identified by police as a 23-year-old white man, killed himself in Round Rock, a town 20 miles north of Austin, in a dramatic end to a siege of the Texas capital.

A law enforcement official told the Associated Press that the dead Austin bombing suspect was named Mark Anthony Conditt.

Authorities had zeroed in on the suspect in the last 24 to 36 hours and located him at a hotel on Interstate 35 in the Austin suburb, Austin’s police chief, Brian Manley, said at a news conference.

When members of the swat team approached, the suspect detonated an explosive device inside the vehicle. The blast knocked back one officer, while a second officer fired his weapon, Manley said.