Austin parcel bombing suspect blew himself up inside car as SWAT team tried to arrest him on motorway

A suspect in a series of terrifying parcel bombings in Austin, Texas, blew himself up in his car as a heavily-armed police SWAT team moved in to arrest him.



Officers were following the suspect's car on a motorway when the 24-year-old man came to a stop in a ditch and then killed himself when he detonated an explosive device, police confirmed.



A SWAT team member approaching the car was knocked back and injured when the bomb went off just a few feet away.



Another officer then shot at the suspect - named by US media as Mark Anthony Conditt - moments before officers moved closer and confirmed that he was dead.



Austin Police Chief Brian Manley told reporters: "The suspect is deceased and has significant injuries from a blast which occurred from detonating a bomb inside his vehicle."



The bombing campaign had terrorised residents for three weeks and news of the suspect's death brought a sense of relief to the state capital, although police are still investigating whether unexploded devices are still out there and whether the man had accomplices.