Was It the Bomb’s Fault or the Mind That Made Them?

There is no doubt the deadly mayhem endured by the citizens of Austin, Texas at the hands of a mysterious bomber this month was horrendous. But in the annals of crime 23-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt (a.k.a. the Austin Bomber) will go down as an amateur.

And, sad to say, bombings are not that unusual.  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reports that in 2016 there were 439 of them, set in motion by jilted lovers, stalkers or relatives seeking revenge or an inheritance. Since 1990, dozens have been wounded or killed by a package bomb.

Almost the minute Austin Police announced they had a serial bomber on the loose many media pundits searched their memories and started comparing Conditt to the Unabomber. Umm, excuse me. In 1996, I covered Ted Kaczynski’s case when he was finally arrested after masterminding a 17-year campaign of terror against university professors, computer stores and a commercial airline. Conditt was no Ted Kaczynski.

Two Mysterious Bombers Kaczynski and Conditt, But Comparisons in Method or Style Ring False

The latter was a brilliant student of math and physics who wrote his dissertation about a complex form of geometry. Somewhere along the line Kaczynski’s mind took a detour. He dropped out of society, lived alone in a tiny shack in Montana with no electricity or plumbing and fostered a seething hated for what he saw as the evil of technological advancements and real estate development. Convinced he could stop the wickedness Kaczynski carefully crafted homemade bombs and sent them to those he saw as the world’s enemies. His delusions resulted in 3 deaths and 23 wounded.

Conditt’s terror spree lasted less than 3 weeks. His deadly deeds (two were killed and four were injured) should never be compared to Kaczynski’s carefully plotted out, long term plan. Nor should the young Conditt be compared to other notorious American bombers.

Eric Rudolph, also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, had a specific agenda as mentally tortured as it was. He was driven by his fervent Christian faith and an anti-government, anti-abortion, anti-gay ideology. Between 1996 and 1998, Rudolph staged a series of bombings across the south. He caused two deaths and more than 100 injuries.  Even though he was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for five years Rudolph was able to elude capture by disappearing into the Appalachian wilderness and living off the land. He was finally arrested in 2003 in North Carolina while foraging for food in a grocery store dumpster.

The Whole Nation Was on the Lookout For Him But Rudolph Evaded Capture For Five Years

Then there was George Metesky, the “Mad Bomber” who planted dozens of bombs across New York City in the late 40’s and 50’s. He operated undiscovered for sixteen years planting his bombs in public places like the subway, the Empire State building, Grand Central Terminal and in theaters, libraries and phone booths. Metesky, it turned out, was angry at his former employer, the Consolidated Edison Utility Company. He was finally stopped after he detailed his on-the-job injury in letters to newspapers which helped police zero in. He was arrested in 1957. None of his 33 bombs resulted in any deaths but 22 people were injured. Metesky was sent to a mental institution, but in 1973 a ruling by the U.S. Supreme court allowed his release.

Metesky, aka “The Mad Bomber”, Was Institutionalized After Capture

So back to the Austin Bomber. At this writing a massive investigation continues, and we know little about what motivated Conditt. He can’t be asked, of course, because when Austin police tracked him to a hotel north of Austin and followed his car Conditt pulled to the side of the road and detonated one of his bombs. The two SWAT officers trailing him surely watched in horror as Conditt died.

Among the only pertinent facts we know:  Conditt had no police or military record. He was home-schooled, a college dropout, then unemployed. He bought the materials for his bombs at a Home Depot and on-line. His fatal mistake was mailing two bombs from a San Antonio FedEx store and using the pseudonym Kelly Killmore. Witnesses remembered Conditt outfitted in a strange blonde wig and gloves and surveillance video helped police identify him.

Conditt’s social media musings reveal he was in favor of the death penalty, against gay marriage and he wanted the sex offender registry to be eliminated. Does all that add up to an ideology that would signal a rage-filled, murderous personality in the making? I don’t think so. But it seems obvious by his actions that somewhere along the line this young man’s grasp on reality left him.

That leaves the rest of us in the same spot we find ourselves after a mass shooting. A young man’s mind begins a descent into mental illness and he takes it out on the innocent.  Shootings like bombings are not rare events.

Once again, I’m left with the feeling that it isn’t the means by which the mayhem was carried out – bombs or guns, knives or a baseball bat – but rather the person holding the weapon.

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Opening photo courtesy Austin Police Department

 

 

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Diane Dimond on March 26, 2018 at 12:58 pm

    Creators Syndicate Reader Dudley Sharp writes:

    Diane:
    The worst school massacre in the US remains the 1927 school bombing in MIchigan, still the most murders of any US school massacre.
    Obviously, it is the mind of the bomber, not the bombs.
    I am not a gun guy, but it is obvious that in schools, as with any other area, the quickest way to stop a murderer with a gun is a good guy with a gun. It is indisputable. We just has a school shooting, were the bad shooter was stopped within 1 minute, by a good guy with a gun.
    Had there been such a good actor in the Florida high school, there is no telling how many lives would have been saved. Actually, as we know the timeline, we, very likely, could calculate the lives saved had the shooter been stopped within 1 minute.
    The gun control efforts will, very, likely, have little to no impact, only because the 2nd amendment jurisprudence is fairly well settled and to repeal the 2nd amendment would take decades of effort and will, most likely fail, based upon the extreme requirements for such repeal.
    The most important issue is what can be done, immediately, to better protect students.
    Volunteer teachers or staff and/or cops and military, well trained in active shooter situations, plus controlled access, seem the most obvious and immediate.
    I don’t fully understand why folks are opposed to the former. In almost every school shooter situation there were adults who tried to stop the shooting, but failed. Their chances of success would rise, substantially, had they been trained and armed, just as that officer who stopped the shooter within 1 minute.

  2. Diane Dimond on March 26, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Facebook Friend Ginnie Oleskewicz Schwartz writes:

    Mental health needs to be the number one priority in my opinion!!!

  3. Diane Dimond on March 26, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Facebook Friend Cliff Darnell writes:

    Tell it all, tell it all, common sense but the “they” of the world want us all tangled up in our emotional baggage

    • Diane Dimond on March 26, 2018 at 1:00 pm

      Facebook Friend Jill Shively writes:

      Yep, I agree!

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