Austin bombing suspect dies as police close in

The suspected serial bomber who terrorized Austin, Texas, died in a confrontation with police overnight.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, authorities identified a twenty-four-year-old man using security video from a FedEx store, store receipts, and cell phone technology. They traced his vehicle to a hotel and began following it.

As SWAT approached, the suspect detonated a bomb in his car.

Interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters, “We believe this individual is responsible for all of the incidents in Austin.” However, he urged the community to remain vigilant for other possible explosives, adding that “we do not know where (the suspect) has been in the past 24 hours.”

In other news, two students were shot yesterday at Great Mills High School, sixty miles southeast of Washington, DC. A sixteen-year-old girl is in critical condition, while a fourteen-year-old boy is in stable condition.

The suspect, Austin Rollins, may have had a prior relationship with one of them. The seventeen-year-old died after exchanging gunfire with a school resource officer.

St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron described his officers’ response to the shooting: “This is what we prepare for. And this is what we pray we never have to do. And on this day, we realized our worst nightmare.”

Once again, we “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). Once again, we must pray for victims of a school shooting while asking God what we can do to prevent such tragedy from taking more precious lives.

“I am the resurrection and the life”

The recent attacks on Austin did not make its residents any less certain of the future than the rest of us. Yesterday’s shooting in Maryland is another tragic reminder that tomorrow is promised to no one.

I happened to be reading John 11 when news of the Maryland shooting broke. The chapter begins with news that Jesus’ friend, Lazarus of Bethany, was ill (v. 1). John then reminds us: “It was Mary who…