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FBI IDs most people in Olympic bomb photos
March 26, 1997Web posted at: 11:55 p.m. EST (0455 GMT)
ATLANTA (CNN) -- Federal agents have now identified seven of the nine people portrayed in photographs and of a composite sketch of potential witnesses who were in Centennial Olympic Park at the time of the bombing, an FBI spokesman said Wednesday.
On March 13, the FBI released photographs and video frames of eight unidentified people, plus a sketch of another man, all described by witnesses as being near the bomb site. The July 27 blast killed one woman and injured more than 100 other people. A Turkish cameraman suffered a fatal heart attack as he rushed to cover the explosion.
The FBI appealed to the public for help in finding the nine people, and a day later announced that seven had been identified.
But on Wednesday, FBI spokesman Jay Spadafore said three people seen in a videotape frame had been misidentified as a group of Georgia men. They turned out not to have been in the park at the right time, and agents have now identified the group as part of a family of four, Spadafore said.
He said the family members were "very helpful and cooperative" but declined to elaborate or to reveal the family's name or residence.
Spadafore says the FBI is still attempting to identify two white males, one of whom was photographed and one of whom was depicted in a composite sketch. The sketch shows a man sporting a goatee and wearing a knit cap. The blurry photo depicts a man who appears to be carrying a backpack.
A law enforcement source told CNN that investigators are particularly interested in the person with the backpack because he appears to have been "in the right place at the right time."
The bomb was planted in a military-style knapsack that had been left under a bench.
All of the photographs and sketches were in the park between 12:15 a.m. and 12:45 a.m. the day of the bombing. The explosion occurred at 1:20 a.m.
Anyone having information on these sketches is asked to call the FBI toll free at 888-324-9797.