2 families hit with Austin package bombs knew each other
AUSTIN, Texas — Two of the families hit with package bombs left on Austin doorsteps knew each other and were connected through local activism in the black community, a civic leader said Tuesday, but it was not clear how they might be tied to a third household where a package bomb also exploded.
Investigators have said the three blasts that killed two people and wounded two others could have been hate crimes since all the victims were black or Hispanic. But they also said they have not ruled out any possible motive.
Draylen Mason, 17, was killed and his mother wounded when a package bomb was opened Monday in their kitchen. The teen’s grandfather is Norman Mason, a prominent dentist in east Austin. He was friends with Freddie Dixon, stepfather of 39-year-old Anthony House, who died in a similar attack in another part of the city on March 2, said Nelson Linder, president of the Austin chapter of the NAACP.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Linder said, explaining that he was concerned by the fact that the families were acquainted.