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![]() Sources: Arrest in Olympic bombing could occur within days
July 27, 1996 ATLANTA (CNN) -- Investigators are making progress in their search for suspects in the bombing early Saturday in Centennial Olympic Park that killed one person and injured more than 100. In fact, sources told CNN, there could be an arrest within days. Underground Atlanta, a popular shopping mall and tourist attraction not far from Centennial Park, was evacuated after a suspicious package was found outside a restaurant in the complex. A bomb disposal squad was on the scene and authorities were using a remote-control robot to investigate the package while police kept people at a distance. It turned out to be an iron with a cord and thermometer wrapped around it -- quite harmless, after all. Sources say focus of Park bombing on domestic terrorism![]() The sources said the focus of the Centennial Park bombing is on domestic terror -- either, in their words, a "nutcase," or someone with a possible militia connection. Investigators say they have a lot of material to work with. At least one of the three pipe bombs that were taped together to cause the explosion is intact. In addition, there was a timing device that may help link the bomb to its makers. The device used is said to be more sophisticated than was at first believed. CNN has learned that investigators have a number of videotapes and snapshots and are studying pictures from surveillance cameras that ring the park. Among the other promising leads: An eyewitness who saw four white men dressed in black. They were reportedly acting rowdy and drawing attention to themselves. In the days before the bombing, federal officials told CNN that a group of skinheads with a reputation for violence was being monitored. Officials now say that is one of the leads being pursued. Other evidence includes the 911 tape from the warning call made shortly before the explosion. Officials said the caller appeared to be a "white male with an indistinguishable (American) accent" and did not claim to speak for any group. The FBI asks anyone who has information about the bombing to call 1-800-905-1514. Olympic events will go onSaturday's events of the Olympic Games "will go on," said Francois Carrard, director general of the International Olympic Committee. (254K AIFF or WAV sound)
"As I speak now, everything is ready," he said. There was no word on when Centennial Olympic Park would reopen, but authorities said it would be no earlier than Sunday. The IOC and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games said that all Olympic flags would be flown at half staff during events Saturday, and that all venues would observe a moment of silence in the memory of the bomb's victims. In addition, the Turkish flag will fly at half staff in memory of cameraman Melih Uzunyol, who suffered a heart attack while covering the explosion and died en route to the hospital. Bomb went off 23 minutes after callTom Davis of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation told reporters Saturday that the explosion occurred about 23 minutes after the warning call. "After we did an assessment of the situation, the explosion occurred -- just a powerful tremendous explosion. I do not know how to explain it other than that," Davis said. Davis said he noticed a package at the park after he was summoned there by a security guard for AT&T who was concerned about some drunk revelers in front of AT&T Tower. "I noticed that the (drunk) individuals had moved on," Davis said. "He (the AT&T security guard) pointed to a package under a bench in front of the tower and told me that one of them must have left it there." Davis said he told the guard that they would try to find the package's owner, and if they failed to do so, would treat the parcel as a suspicious package. "And that is what we did," he said. FBI Agent Woody Johnson gave a similar account of what happened before the bombing. Johnson said that a police officer called to investigate an "unruly" segment of the audience attending a late night concert at the AT&T Global Village stage, "noticed a suspicious package." The officer called for bomb investigators, who began to evacuate the area. ="Before they were able to completely clear the area, the device went off," Johnson said. Mark Smith, an audio technician working in a tower where engineers control concert sound, told CNN that the suspicious package was discovered leaning against the tower by an AT&T security guard. "He didn't like the way it looked, and informed the police," Smith said. "They didn't like the way it looked either, and cleared the area."
Smith said that policeman near the explosion point appeared to be the worst injured. He praised the quick action of security and police personnel, saying that they very likely kept the number and severity of injuries at a minimum. Park is vulnerable to attack![]() The 21-acre (8.5 hectare) Centennial Olympic Park, ringed by the pavilions of several Olympic sponsors, is packed daily with visitors making their way to nearby venues as well as Atlanta residents taking in the Olympic experience. It has been the site of nightly concerts. Officials said that the open facility caused concern about security, but that the site was considered important to the spirit of the games. A.D. Frazier, chief operating officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, said the bombing would not change that. "I don't think there's any act, however heinous, that could destroy these Olympic Games," he said. Johnson said that the FBI has now cordoned off the park. The park will reopen, at least in part, when the investigation is complete. Johnson also said that the FBI had no information on other explosive devices, but gave Olympic venues a thorough inspection before Saturday's events began.
Security combed the area around the park early Saturday, looking for evidence. Police also inspected tracks and stations of Atlanta's public transportation system, but MARTA trains were still running. Law enforcement agents told CNN there were nails, shrapnel and pieces of wood strewn all over the scene. But one official said the situation was "not as bad as you would expect, because the explosive device was very crude." The pieces of the bomb have been sent to a state law enforcement lab for examination. Police also are developing film from tourists and cameramen on the scene in the search for possible suspects and leads. At the same time agents with the FBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Atlanta police are interviewing possible witnesses from the park. One law enforcement source told CNN that some of those witnesses are "generating leads." Witnesses initially thought it was part of showThe rock band Jack Mack and the Heart Attack had just finished a song when the bomb went off, about 1:25 a.m. EDT. "It felt like a concussion mortar, as we call it in the business," said audio technician Smith. Robert Gee, a visitor from San Francisco, video-taped the explosion -- a ground-shaking boom, a bright flash, and a poof of smoke that stretched above the 40-foot sound tower next to it. Witnesses near the explosion site dove to the ground and ran for cover, while those farther away stood bewildered until police began to evacuate the park. Most of those injured were hit by flying shrapnel. The victim who died at the scene of the bombing was 44-year- old tourist Alice Jane Hawthorne of Albany, Georgia, according to family members. Relatives said she apparently had massive head injuries from the explosion. Hawthorne's young daughter, believed to be about 7 years old, was injured. ![]()
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