ENN DAILY REPORT
EmergencyNet NEWS Service
Saturday, July 27, 1996
Vol. 2 - 209
ENN 7/27/96 10:20
TERRORISM STRIKES AT THE OLYMPICS ...
By Steve Macko, ENN Editor
ATLANTA (ENN) - A large pipe bomb exploded early on Saturday morning in Centennial Olympic Park in
downtown Atlanta. Two people were killed and at least 110 other people were wounded. FBI Special Agent
Woody Johnson said, "The FBI will take the lead in the investigation. We will consider it an act of terrorism until
information should arrive to the contrary."
The large blast went off at about 0125 EDT near a 5-story 60x60 sound and light tower in the 21-acre park located
near Luckie Street and Hayden Street. At the time of the explosion thousands of people were celebrating at an
open-air, free concert.
One witness described what he saw by saying, "I thought it was fireworks, like a big boom, and I saw three guys
laying in the street. They all had leg injuries. Blood was running down the street. It was horrible."
Another witness described, "I saw two people hurt. One of them was a black man hurt real bad and he had shrapnel
sticking out of his body. After it went off, you could smell gunpowder in the air."
The bomb detonated after authorities began evacuating the area near the tower. A police officer had noticed a
suspicious leather satchel. The officer called for members of the bomb squad, who did inspect the package before it
went off and confirmed that it was a dangerous situation. FBI Special Agent Johnson said, "Before they were able to
clear people from the area, the device went off."
One man who was mixing music for the concert said, "The security guard found a knapsack or nylon bag and didn't
like the way it looked. The police started clearing the area. I was 50 feet away and there was a policeman about 30
feet away from it. I saw the cop right in front of me take a huge piece of shrapnel. He got hit bad. One guy threw a
towel on his head. I poured water on him to wash away some of the blood. He was lying face down and he wasn't
moving. I saw ten pockets of people hit by what appears to be shrapnel." At least six (6) of the wounded were law
enforcement officers who were trying to clear the area. The blast reportedly left a small four-feet deep crater in the
ground.
Johnson said that he had no information on any other bombs or threats in the area. ENN reported in its Friday
edition that the Olympic Games were receiving about 30 threats per day.
Hospitals in Atlanta treated more than 100 wounded victims. Many of the victims were struck by shrapnel. One
doctor said that he treated many people with fractures and one person had a finger amputated. One of the dead
victims, a woman, was killed by the effects from the blast. The other person who died was a 40-year-old Turkish
national who suffered a heart attack.
Olympic Centennial Park is located in the center of Atlanta and is within walking distance of three major Olympic
venues. The park was wide open and anyone was free to walk through it. Experts say that this location was probably
the least protected of all of the venues and attractions in Atlanta.
As mentioned before, the blast went off at 0125 EDT. At approx. 01:11 EDT, there was a call made to 911 by a
person saying that there was a bomb was in the park and he even gave a location of the device. The call was made
from a bank of public phones located about two blocks away from the park. Police and FBI investigators have spent
most of the morning collecting evidence from that area.
Law enforcement officers were saying that the device appeared to be crude and they suspect more of a local
connection, rather than an international connection. But these observations were based only on preliminary
observations. Speculation among ERRI analysts is centering on a "copycat" connection or "militia connection."
As could be expected, security in Atlanta was tightened on Saturday morning. Security agents became very serious
and were conducting many more inspections of people and vehicles. Armed soldiers were seen at at least one
outlying venue this morning, in an attempt to further secure the premises.
At a little past 1000 EDT, President Bill Clinton called the deadly pipe-bomb attack an "evil act of terror." The
President said, "We will spare no effort to find out who was responsible for this murderous act. We will track them
down. We will bring them to justice. The bombing at Centennial Olympic Park this morning was an evil act of terror.
It was aimed at the innocent people who were participating in the Olympic Games and at the spirit of the Olympics.
It was an act of cowardice that stands in sharp contrast to the courage of the Olympic athletes." Clinton added, "An
act of vicious terror like this is clearly directed at the spirit of our own democracy."
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All Rights Reserved. Contact ERRI/ENN for reproduction rights.
GBI Agents Called Heros, Go to ENN Continuing Coverage