 For
a related Story on the Clinic Bombing in Birmingham, AL Click here to go to a series of stories by EmergencyNet News |
| For
a related Story on the Clinic Bombing in Birmingham, AL Click here to go to a series of stories by EmergencyNet News |
NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT NEWS
Letter Bombs to Gainesville, FL Police AgenciesGAINESVILLE, FLORIDA (EmergencyNet News) - Gainesville area bomb squad experts were kept very busy on Thursday afternoon after four suspected letter bombs were discovered at three law enforcement agencies. None of the suspected devices exploded.
Police said that the packages contained AA-sized batteries, aluminum foil and a small device with a stem coming off of it. The first package was discovered at the Gainesville office of the Florida Highway Patrol. In the course of the next three hours, three packages were found -- two inside the Gainesville Police Department headquarters and one in a mailbox outside the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.
The package that was delivered by the U.S. Postal Service to the FHP office came in a plastic bag because it had been damaged during shipping. Through a tear in the envelope, FHP Captain Sylvester Dawson was able to spot the suspicious contents.
The motive behind the incident is still unclear. The contents of the packages have been sent to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms lab in Atlanta for analysis.
In a related story, Clark Staten, Emergency Response & Research Institute Executive Director and Senior Analyst, on Friday issued a statement of concern in regard to the possibility of an on-going increase in domestic extremist activity. Faced with the killing of an off-duty police officer in an abortion clinic bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, and now letter bombs in Gainesville, Staten noted that a historical perspective would reveal that there has been an upsurge in paramilitary and abortion-related violence in January of the past two years. Staten urged family planning facilities and emergency agencies to undertake additional awareness and consider additional preventive measures in the coming days.
Report (c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1998. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
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