{"id":97139,"date":"2018-03-23T17:57:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T21:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=97139"},"modified":"2018-03-23T17:57:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T21:57:02","slug":"how-did-mark-conditts-roommates-have-no-clue-about-his-alleged-bombing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=97139","title":{"rendered":"How did Mark Conditt&#8217;s roommates have no clue about his alleged bombing?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Austin package bomber&#8217;s roommates questioned, released without charges<\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->THE ASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n<p><!-- TAG START { player: \"Embed Player\", owner: \"Embed Company\", for: \"Embed\" } --><\/p>\n<div class=\"vdb_player vdb_5688f66de4b040e17d9912265688f5c1e4b0f2c97f395156\" vdb_params=\"m.refbcid=56bb65bee4b08e34e4876362&#038;m.refpid=5852e8f9cc52c7184f640758\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/delivery.vidible.tv\/jsonp\/pid=5688f66de4b040e17d991226\/vid=5ab3aabbae6cdf4848abd8bd\/5688f5c1e4b0f2c97f395156.js\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- TAG END { date: 03\/23\/18 } --><\/p>\n<p>PFLUGERVILLE, Texas \u2014 The mother of a man who lived with suspected serial bomber Mark Conditt in a home north of Austin says her son was kept in police custody until after Conditt died in a fatal confrontation with officers.<\/p>\n<p>Jennifer Withers told The Associated Press that her 26-year-old son, Collin Thomas, was walking from work Tuesday night in Pflugerville to the house he and another man shared with Conditt when a group of officers \u201cflew at him.\u201d Withers, who spoke during an interview Thursday, said Thomas, who is black, was handcuffed, taken into custody by SWAT officers and questioned about the bombings.<\/p>\n<p>She said he was held overnight but that none of his family was notified about where he was.<\/p>\n<p>Conditt died early Wednesday after detonating a bomb as police were about to arrest him. Thomas was eventually released.<\/p>\n<p>Police said earlier Thursday that they\u2019d released Conditt\u2019s other roommate. They refused to name him, saying he wasn\u2019t currently under arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Austin police spokeswoman Anna Sabana said neither roommate has been charged. She said she did not know why Thomas was detained forcibly in the way his mother described.<\/p>\n<p>Withers said Thomas lived with Conditt for more than three months in a home Conditt was renovating with his father. She said her son was close to a family at the Christian church he attended, and that they introduced him to Conditt\u2019s family who were also Christian.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ra-nativo ic\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"ra-module h\">\n<figure class=\"ra-figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3890469.1521752510!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_750\/addition-austin-bombings.jpg\" srcset=\"http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3890469.1521752510!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_750\/addition-austin-bombings.jpg 750w, http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3890469.1521752510!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_1200\/addition-austin-bombings.jpg 1200w\" alt=\"2010 STUDENT ID PHOTO PROVIDED BY AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE\" \/><figcaption>\n<h5 class=\"ra-caption\">Mark Anthony Conditt, the suspect in the deadly bombings that terrorized Austin, blew himself up early Wednesday, March 21, 2018, as authorities closed in on him after a three-week manhunt <span class=\"ra-credit\">(AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE\/AP)<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h5>She said her son and the 23-year-old Conditt, who was white, \u201cseemed to get along fine.\u201d<\/h5>\n<p>\u201cCollin said they all would sit around and chat and talk,\u201d Withers said.<\/p>\n<p>She said her son didn\u2019t know anything about the bombs and that she never got to meet Conditt.<\/p>\n<p>Conditt\u2019s first two bombs killed and injured black victims, leading to speculation that they were hate crimes \u2014 though investigators backed off those theories somewhat when subsequent victims were Hispanic and white.<\/p>\n<p>They now say they don\u2019t know what motivated him.<\/p>\n<p>Conditt made a 25-minute cellphone recording before his death. It was recovered after he detonated one of his own bombs along the side of Interstate 35 just outside of Austin as a SWAT team moved in.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ra-module h\">\n<figure class=\"ra-figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3890468.1521752509!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_750\/935881486.jpg\" srcset=\"http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3890468.1521752509!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_750\/935881486.jpg 750w, http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3890468.1521752509!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_1200\/935881486.jpg 1200w\" alt=\"Law enforcement search the home of suspected Austin bomber Mark Anthony Conditt on March 21, 2018 in Pflugerville, Texas, where he lived with two roommates.\" \/><figcaption>\n<h5 class=\"ra-caption\">Law enforcement search the home of suspected Austin bomber Mark Anthony Conditt on March 21, 2018 in Pflugerville, Texas, where he lived with two roommates.\u00a0<span class=\"ra-credit\">(DREW ANTHONY SMITH\/GETTY IMAGES)<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>But investigators say the recording provides few clues as to Conditt\u2019s motives \u2014 and they\u2019ve refused to release it publicly, citing the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Conditt built bombs planted in different parts of Austin that killed two people and severely wounded four others over three weeks starting on March 2. He began by placing explosives in packages left overnight on doorsteps, then rigged an explosive to a tripwire along a public trail. Finally, he sent two parcels with bombs via FedEx.<\/p>\n<p>As fear grew, Conditt eventually was tracked down through store surveillance video, cellphone signals and witness accounts of a customer shipping FedEx packages in a disguise that included a blond wig and gloves.<\/p>\n<p>Police found him early Wednesday at a hotel. And when his car moved, they followed and forced him off the road, setting up the confrontation that ended in an explosion.<\/p>\n<p>Austin Mayor Steve Adler praised police officers for stopping Conditt\u2019s sport utility vehicle before he could get onto the highway, even though they were aware he likely had explosive devices inside and they did not have as much backup as planned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hear about folks who run into danger to keep us safe and we had one of those moments in very graphic and specific detail,\u201d Adler said at a news conference Thursday.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ra-module h\">\n<figure class=\"ra-figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3889605.1521725114!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_750\/935600964.jpg\" srcset=\"http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3889605.1521725114!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_750\/935600964.jpg 750w, http:\/\/assets.nydailynews.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.3889605.1521725114!\/img\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/article_1200\/935600964.jpg 1200w\" alt=\"Law enforcement officials search for evidence at the location where the suspected package bomber was killed in suburban Austin on March 21, 2018 in Round Rock, Texas.\u00a0\" \/><figcaption>\n<h5 class=\"ra-caption\">Law enforcement officials search for evidence at the location where the suspected package bomber was killed in suburban Austin on March 21, 2018 in Round Rock, Texas.\u00a0<span class=\"ra-credit\">(SCOTT OLSON\/GETTY IMAGES)<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>NAACP Austin President Nelson Linder said the manhunt\u2019s end was a relief but that the public needs answers on what motivated Conditt, including whether the first two victims were targeted because they are from prominent black families.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s random at this point,\u201d Linder said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to withhold our judgment and keep searching for information and why he killed those people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Investigators have released few details about Conditt, who was unemployed, home-schooled and attended Austin Community College until 2012 but didn\u2019t graduate.<\/p>\n<p>The Austin American-Statesman reported Thursday that a bomb Conditt made and shipped via FedEx had been addressed to an employee at a downtown Austin spa. It was intercepted at a processing center without exploding.<\/p>\n<p>Anita Ward works at Austin Med Spa and says that police and federal agents told her that her daughter, who also works there, was meant to be the recipient of the unexploded package.<\/p>\n<p>Ward declined to name her daughter, who she said doesn\u2019t know Conditt. Police haven\u2019t commented.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/news\/national\/austin-bomber-roommates-released-charges-article-1.3891324\">http:\/\/www.nydailynews.com\/news\/national\/austin-bomber-roommates-released-charges-article-1.3891324<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Austin package bomber&#8217;s roommates questioned, released without charges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}