Updated on
Summary
A man who may have been upset with the Internal Revenue Service set fire to his home, got into a small plane and crashed it Thursday into a multistory office building, authorities said. At least two people were injured and a third was unaccounted for. The crash caused a fire and sent black smoke billowing from the seven-story Echelon Building. Officials told The Associated Press that authorities were trying to determine if the pilot intentionally targeted nearby office space of the IRS. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing. Another official said authorities were pursuing reports that the pilot may have had a long-running dispute with the IRS. A senior law enforcement official told NBC's Pete Williams the saga began Thursday morning, when police received a domestic disturbance call. When they responded, they discovered that the man had lit a fire in his house and fled. They say he went to the airport, got into a small plane and took off. A short time later, the plane crashed into the office building. Federal officials said they did not know whether the man crashed the plane intentionally, though they said it was a distinct possibility, the official told NBC.As a precaution, the Colorado-based North American Aerospace Defense Command launched two F-16 aircraft from Houston's Ellington Field to conduct an air patrol over the crash area. The Echelon Building is next to a major highway in north Austin, and the crash started fires on several floors of the building. Dozens of windows were blown out of the hulking black building and vehicles traveling on a nearby highway paused to look. Authorities were conducting a roll call to try to account for all the workers who were in the building. Two people were taken to a hospital, Austin Assistant Fire Chief Harry Evans said. The nature and severity of their injuries wasn't immediately clear. A third person was unaccounted for, Evans said. It was not immediately known if the victims were from the plane or the office building. It was not immediately known where the plane was headed. The nearest airport is Austin Bergstrom International Airport, which is some 15 miles away. The IRS, CIA and FBI all have offices in the complex where the building is located, though it was not clear if they are in the building that was hit.
