For residents of Pflugerville, the fear brought on by the spate of recent bombings will take some time to disappear, not least because their quiet suburb about 20 miles from downtown Austin has become the centre of a massive police operation.

Detectives and federal agents have flooded two streets connected to the serial bombing suspect Mark Anthony Conditt, one containing his home and the other his parents’.

One neighbour, Debbie Alexander, who has lived in the hamlet for nearly 20 years, happened upon today’s scene of black SUVs, ambulances and police officers on her morning walk.

“My mind is so nervous from the disbelief,” she told The Independent, adding that Pflugerville is a “friendly community” where her children attend the nearby public schools.

Conditt’s home is five miles from the site the first bomb detonated on 2 March, which killed 39-year-old Anthony Stephan House, and not much further from where Draylen Mason, just 17, was killed by another package bomb on 12 March. He is said to have lived with two roommates, who are both cooperating with officials.

“I’m ready to get my kids and go to my parents’ house... they don’t need to see this,” Ms Alexander said.

As a UPS truck passed by to make deliveries to the offices at the end of the street, Ms Alexander said she was still a bit nervous and “scared” because police had cautioned residents to be wary of packages and aware of their surroundings.

Lee Roca, a neighbour of Conditt’s, said he had seen the suspected serial bomber “more than a few times” at a neighbourhood bar called the Red Rooster on karaoke nights.

“Sometimes when I do my music I get 10 handshakes at the end” and it “could be” that he shook hands with Conditt at some point.

Austin bombings suspect dead Show all 23 1 /23 Austin bombings suspect dead Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Austin bombings suspect named as 24-year-old Mark Anthony Conditt by Texas police. Facebook Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 The bomber's car at the scene surrounded by law enforcement vehicles after he detonated a device following them closing in on him. kvue Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Officials investigate the scene. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Law enforcement officials search for evidence at the location where the suspected package bomber was killed in suburban Austin. Getty Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 The Austin bomber's car after he detonated the device. kvue Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Agent in Charge Fred Milanowski, Interim Austin Police Chief Brian Manley and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs speak to the media as law enforcement investigates the scene. EPA Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 The scene after the Austin bomber detonated a device in his car. kvue Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Emergency responders investigate the scene. EPA Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Police vehicles are seen just south of the Woodspring Suite and Red Roof Inn along the interstate as police investigate. The bombing suspect was identified by police and according to media reports he allegedly blew himself up after being confronted by police after being sought in connection with more than five bombings across the Austin, Texas area. EPA Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Officials work at the scene early on Wednesday. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Austin Police and ATF section off parts of Slaughter Lane. Rex Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Grocery carts block a vacated Randall's along Slaughter and Brodie Lanes near the scene of the explosion. Rex Austin bombings suspect dead March 21 Officials work at the scene. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 20 Law enforcement personnel are seen gathering evidence outside a FedEx Store which was closed for investigation after a fifth bombing in Austin. There has been five bombings in the month of March in neighborhoods across Austin and police think they are all related. Reuters Austin bombings suspect dead March 20 Caity Colvard gets emotional as she watches a massive response of law enforcement officers at a bomb explosion site at a Goodwill store in Austin. Emergency teams were responding to another reported explosion in Texas' capital, this one at a Goodwill store in the southern part of the city. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 20 FBI agents carrying items out in paper bags and boxes as they exit the FedEx store. EPA Austin bombings suspect dead March 20 Damage from a bomb blast that killed a man earlier in the month is pictured at the front porch of a home on Haverford Drive in Austin. Reuters Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 FBI and police investigate a bombing at the intersection of Republic of Texas and Mission Oaks boulevards. Rex Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 Investigators work at the scene of a bombing on Dawn Song Drive in the Travis Country neighborhood. Rex Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 A police crime scene van arrives near the site of the explosion. Police warned nearby residents to remain indoors overnight as investigators looked for possible links to other deadly package bombings elsewhere in the city this month. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 Police tape marks off the neighborhood where the package bomb went off. It is the fourth similar bombing in three weeks in the Austin area. Getty Austin bombings suspect dead March 19 Austin police chief Brian Manley talks with FBI Special Agent after explosion on Sunday. AP Austin bombings suspect dead March 18 Police maintain a cordon near the site of the explosion in southwest Austin. Reuters

He said he was shocked after being shown Conditt’s picture; “[I said] ‘hey, I know this person from the bar’,” but he did not know exactly where he lived in the small home tucked away among a few low-rise offices just a 10 minute walk away.

Expressing relief that police had caught up to a suspect, Mr Roca said: “I was worried about the bombings, yes, very much... because it could happen anywhere. You drive over a box or something in the road and be exploded in a minute”.

Mr Roca said he would give it a few days before heading back to the bar because he is still a bit “nervous” about driving around town.

Starting the previous night, residents in the area said they could hear helicopters and what sounded like drones circling around the neighbourhood as police had narrowed down Conditt’s identity and were tracking his whereabouts.

He was eventually caught up to at a hotel approximately 13 miles away in Round Rock, Texas, where he died after detonating an explosive device in his car after police pulled him over.

Austin bombings suspect killed after being tracked down by Texas police

Ms Alexander said she did not want to make judgements on Conditt’s behaviour but in the “over 10 times” she had seen him around, he seemed a bit “quiet” and almost “standoffish” but he did not worry her. She had never spoken with him but waved to say hello.

“I’ve never been in his house... but once I saw the garage door open and it looked like a bedroom to me,” she said about one of the occasions during which she had observed him.

Ms Alexander said that she agreed with Austin Mayor Steve Adler when he said that Austin and surrounding areas should get to know their neighbours better. “The world we live in, people are afraid... I would have never guessed in a million years that kid would have done that,” she said about Conditt, adding that “you can tell a lot about a person in two minutes” if there is some more communication between neighbours.

Conditt bought the home a few years ago with the help of his parents, Danene and Pat Conditt, who lived just a few miles away, also in Pflugerville. At his parent’s home, police were stationed outside on a sparsely populated street, with his parents having allowed investigators into their home.

An American flag fluttered in the wind on the modest cream and grey home, situated across from an open field. A neighbour, Jeff Reeb, told The Independent that he did not know Conditt well but “knows what he drives, knows when he visits his parents. His car is there for a couple of hours and then it’s gone.”

Mr Reeb was in “complete shock” when he heard that police had named Conditt, who grew up in the house right next door, as the suspect.

“He and and his family are as normal as I’ve seen anybody,” the neighbour of approximately 17 years said.

Conditt had been homeschooled by his grandmother, Mary Conditt. He created a blog about his political views as a requirement for a political science class he took at Austin Community College, according to McKenna McIntosh, his classmate. In an author description, he described himself as a Conservative. His posts include arguments against same-sex marriage and sex offender registries and a defence of the death penalty. He attended the community college from 2010 to 2012 but did not graduate.

Conditt’s grandmother said she was shocked to learn her grandson was being accused of the attacks, and called him a “very kind” and “loving person”. She told CNN that Mr Conditt was a “very quiet and a deep thinker”.

Conditt, accused of being involved with six bombs, five of which exploded. Texas congressman Michael McCaul told a local Austin television station that the suspect bought bomb-making equipment at a Home Depot in Pflugerville. It is the idea that there may be other explosives out there that has residents most on edge.