3 Package Explosions This Month in Austin Leave 2 Dead

Authorities are warning Austin residents to be wary of suspicious packages left outside their home after three explosions in the past two weeks left two people dead and two others injured. On Monday morning, a 17-year-old boy was killed and a woman in her 40s injured after the teen brought a package into the home, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Later the same morning, another 75-year-old woman was injured by a package bomb, the AP reports. On March 2, 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House was killed when a suspicious package exploded at his home; authorities are now investigating whether the incidents might be related.

In at least the first two incidents, the packages were not sent through the US Postal Service, UPS, or FedEx, indicating someone left them on the doorsteps. Both of the fatal incidents occurred at similar times (6:44am and 6:55am), indicating the packages were left overnight, CBS News reports; both are being investigated as homicides. The victims in both of those incidents were African-American and the 75-year-old woman is Hispanic; authorities say they are not ruling out the possibility that these are hate crimes. The women in Monday's incidents are both said to have suffered potentially life-threatening injuries. Austin residents are instructed to call 911 if they see an unexpected package outside their home. (More suspicious package stories.)