Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said Wednesday evening that the presumptive serial bomber who died in a police standoff early Wednesday morning left a video recording on his phone, which was recovered from his car after the suspect, Mark Conditt, detonated an explosive device. "I would classify this as a confession," Manley said, and in it Conditt, 23, describes in some detail the six complete explosive devices that went off in and around Austin starting March 2 and ending with his apparent suicide blast. The six explosions killed two other people — Anthony House, 39, and Draylen Mason, 17 — and wounded at least four others.
Conditt made the recording between 9 and 11 p.m. Tuesday night, as police were closing in on him, and while he talked about what he did, Manley said, he did not provide a motive. "We are never going to be able to put a [rationale] behind these acts, but what I can tell you having listened to that recording: He does not at all mention anything about terrorism nor does he mention anything about hate, but instead, it is the outcry of a very challenged young man, talking about challenges in his personal life that led him to this point."
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