Man angry at IRS crashes plane into Austin building, authorities say

WASHINGTON
— A disgruntled software engineer who had a beef with the Internal
Revenue Service set his house on fire then flew a small plane into an Austin, Texas, building where the federal agency had offices, authorities said Thursday.

At least two people on the ground were injured in
the crash, which turned the office building’s facade into a charred
mosaic. At least one person remained unaccounted for, according to
local officials.

Early on, officials feared the plane crash might be connected to foreign terrorism and scrambled two F-16s from Houston’s Ellington Field. But officials later discounted the possibility of terrorism and focused on a civilian crime instead.

“There is no cause for alarm, no cause for panic,” Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters in a televised news conference.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the incident, spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on Air Force One, en route to a campaign appearance in Colorado. Gibbs said the Department of Homeland Security would continue to investigate.

FBI officials in Washington said they were investigating Joseph Andrew Stack, identified as a software company engineer who lives in the Austin area. Stack was reportedly involved in a dispute with the IRS.

In a Web site posting, Stack writes that he has had enough, but doesn’t explain the nature of his argument with the IRS.

“I am finally ready to stop this insanity,” Stack
wrote. “Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different;
take my pound of flesh and sleep well.”

At about 9:15 a.m. CST, Stack was
believed to have set fire to his home with his wife, Sharon, and their
daughter inside. Fire officials responded and the pair were saved.

Stack then apparently went to the local airport where he took a plane, most likely his own, then flew to Austin, officials said. Police said earlier reports that Stack stole a plane were incorrect.

Witnesses said the small craft appeared to sharply
bank from the east across a highway. It hit the building in the lower
floors just before 10 a.m. The plane was flying low.

“It’s very surreal,” Megan Riley, a witness to the crash, said in an interview with KXAN-TV.

The building was engulfed in flames after the crash. Firefighters poured into the structure to fight the blaze.

“There’s lots of smoke, lots of heat, lots of fire,” Fire Department spokesman Assistant Chief Harry Evans said at a televised news conference. More than 100 first-responders were at the scene, he said.

At least two people were hospitalized and another person was unaccounted for, Evans said.

The plane hit the building in the lower floors and Evans said the damage to the second floor was very heavy.

The fire burned about 90 minutes before officials said it was contained.

The structure, known as the Echelon Building,
has business and government offices, including those of the IRS. In a
statement, The IRS said 190 employees work in the building.

Other federal law enforcement officials in Washington
said that contrary to initial news reports, an “FBI building” is not
located next to the structure that was hit. Rather, they said, “it’s a
generic office building that the FBI has space in.” That space is used
by the FBI’s resident agent in Austin.

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