FBI SAYS OLYMPIC PARK BOMBING WAS AIMED AT POLICE

EmergencyNet NEWS Service EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-Saturday, July 26, 1997 Vol. 1 - 207

FBI SAYS OLYMPIC PARK BOMBING
WAS AIMED AT POLICE
By Steve Macko, ERRI Crime Analyst

ATLANTA (ENN) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Friday for the first time that it was law enforcement officers who were the target of the Olympic bombing last year. Jack Daulton, the FBI agent in charge of the investigation said that the 911 call made from a nearby pay phone shortly before the blast was intended to bring officers to the scene. The bomber knew that police officers would rush to the Olympic park to move people to safety, he said.

Daulton would not say exactly what makes the FBI think that law enforcement officers were targeted. But the 911 caller had warned, "There is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have 30 minutes." And the bomb went off in just 22 minutes.

The one year anniversary of the bombing is Sunday. When asked if agents fear a repeat attack, Daulton replied, "There's nothing magic about Centennial Olympic Park. The Centennial Park bombing was directed at law enforcement. The bomber seems to have his own ideas of what the targets are. He could strike at any time at any place."

Investigators have said, in the past, that the attack is linked to bombings that occurred on 16 January at a suburban Atlanta abortion clinic and 21 February at a gay nightclub. In each of those cases, two bombs were set. And in each case, investigators said they believe the second bomb was aimed at law enforcement officers responding to the first.

Daulton also said the common target is one reason investigators suspect the same person or group bombed all three places. Investigators have also said that the bombs in all three cases had certain similarities. Investigators would not say publicly what those similarities were, but Time magazine reported in March that an unusual metal was used in the three bombings and that the timers and copper wiring in the fuse mechanisms were similar. The Washington Post said in June that iron shrapnel in all three bombings came from the same smelter or foundry.

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