Angry Man Flies Plane Into Austin IRS Office Building

Reports say pilot set his house on fire before crash
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 18, 2010 11:11 AM CST
Updated Feb 18, 2010 2:17 PM CST
Angry Man Flies Plane Into Austin IRS Office Building
Smoke billows from a seven-story building after a small private plane crashed into the building in Austin, Texas on Thursday Feb. 18, 2010.   (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Jay Janner/)

A small plane crashed into a seven-story office building in Austin, Texas, and signs are now pointing to a deliberate act. CNN reports that the pilot—identified as Joseph Andrew Stack—set his house on fire, took off in his own plane from a local airport, and crashed it into the building at full throttle. The building houses IRS offices in the area that got hit, notes the Austin American-Statesman. Stack left behind an anti-IRS screed posted online, apparently written to be read after the crash.

Reports are on casualties are unclear, but at least two people have been taken to the hospital and one other—presumably the pilot—is unaccounted for. The Homeland Security Department initially ruled out a link to terrorism or criminal activity but later modified the statement to rule out only a link to terrorism.
(More Austin stories.)

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