Fifth package bomb strikes Texas

AUSTIN/SCHERTZ: A package bomb blew up at a FedEx Corp distribution center near San Antonio on Tuesday, officials said, and the FBI was investigating whether it was linked to a series of four homemade bombs that hit the Texas capital of Austin this month.

Officials did not say if the latest incident was the work of what Austin police believe could be a serial bomber responsible for the four earlier devices that killed two people and injured four others.The blast at the FedEx facility in Schertz, northeast of San Antonio, was the fifth in the state in the last 18 days.

If it is linked to the others, it would be the first outside the Austin area and the first that involves a commercial parcel service. “We are investigating it as being possibly related to our open investigation,” FBI spokeswoman Michelle Lee told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. “We can´t know for sure until we have an opportunity to look at the evidence itself. “The package, filled with nails and metal shrapnel, exploded shortly after midnight local time (0500 GMT) at the facility, about 65 miles (105 km) south of Austin, the San Antonio Fire Department said on Twitter. The company described it as a FedEx Ground sorting facility. About 75 people were working at the facility at the time, fire officials said. The individual or people behind the bombings are likely to be highly skilled and methodical, said Fred Burton, chief security officer for Stratfor, a private intelligence and security consulting firm based in Austin.