Excerpted from EmergencyNet News Service Daily Report - 07/29/96
Analysts Concentrate On Domestic Souce of Olympic Bomb
By Steve Macko, ENN Editor
ATLANTA-- July 29, 1996 (ENN) - The FBI said on Sunday that they were pursuing several promising leads to
find who was responsible for the bombing in Centennial Park on Saturday morning. The FBI laboratory in
Washington has examined fragments of the explosive device. They have been able to determine that the backpack,
that was left to explode, contained three pipe bombs that were laced with nails and screws. It is believed that the
device was electrically detonated with a clock timer. Each of the three bombs were ten-inches long and two-inches
in diameter. One federal security expert, who is involved in the investigation, told ENN, "It was a pretty low-tech
device as bombs go."
Clark Staten, ERRI Senior CT analyst and counter-terrorism instructor said that high on the list of suspects would be
members of "domestic extremist groups" or a "deranged individual or individuals" who may have a grudge against the
Atlanta, the U.S. government or the Olympics. Staten said that he believed that the explosives involved were an
improvised device containing "low order" explosives, probably black powder or something similar. He also
observed, in a live interview over the weekend with Channel 2 (CBS ) in Chicago, that it was unlikely that this
incident involved international terrorist groups, as it didn't fit their methods of operation. He said Middle-East
terrorist organizations prefered Semtex, RD4, C-4 or other plastique "high order explosives." Staten concluded by
saying that it appears that whomever committed this act is psychologically "very angry with someone", as they
diabolically included nails and screws in the bomb, in order to create deadly shrapnel and cause additional injuries or
deaths.
David Capitanchik, a British terrorism expert, said that the case was starting to look more like a domestic group that
is opposed to the re-election of President Bill Clinton in November. Capitanchik said, "Many of these people on the
extreme right of the American political spectrum are very concerned that if Clinton wins the election ... this time he
will really go for the guns and for these militia groups."
Other sources are telling ENN that many investigators involved in the case believe that the bombing was committed
by a lone individual. The FBI did not release any additional information about a suspect or suspects, or their motive,
today at their afternoon briefing. An FBI spokesperson did reiterate a previously published affirmation, however, that
they do believe that they will catch whomever comitted the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.
(c) EmergencyNet News Service, 1996, All rights Reserved.