A crude but deadly terrorist bomb tore the heart from the Olympics yesterday, as an early morning blast destroyed Atlanta’s party atmosphere and prompted a massive manhunt.
The bombing, which FBI sources said was likely an act of domestic terrorism, led to at least two deaths and 111 injuries at Centennial Olympic Park. Authorities said their suspect was a white American man who warned a 911 operator of the bomb in a calm voice.
But the warning, apparently made from a pay phone two blocks from the blast, came too late to safely evacuate the thousands of revelers who had gathered at the park for a free outdoor concert.
The bombing had an immediate dampening effect on the spirit of the Olympics, casting an overwhelming bloodstained shadow of terrorism over the Games. It also gave Americans still reeling from the loss of TWA Flight 800 another reminder that their country is no longer immune to such attacks.
President Clinton denounced the bombing as “an evil act of terror.”
Immediately after the explosion, many of the concertgoers stood dazed, unsure if the blast was fireworks or a bomb.
As the smoke lifted into the night, people soon saw the sprawl of bloody victims, many of them badly cut by the shrapnel that flew everywhere. Ambulances and fire engines quickly arrived at the park, turning a place of celebration into a giant emergency room.
“We will spare no effort to find out who was responsible for this murderous act,” Clinton said in Washington, where he had returned from an Olympic visit barely 24 hours before the attack. “We will track them down. We will bring them to justice.”
Clinton said new measures would be added to beef up a security effort he called the most extensive ever for an Olympics.
Despite the bombing, the Games went on yesterday, much as they did in the1972 Munich Games, when 11 Israeli Olympians were killed by Palestinian terrorists in the last act of Olympic terrorism.
“The games will go on,” said Francois Carrard, director general of the International Olympic Committee.
Meanwhile, the search for the bomber centered on the 911 call, made about 20 minutes before the 1:25 a.m. blast. The caller warned the operator that a bomb would go off in the park in 30 minutes. No motive or claim of responsibility wa s given.
At about the same time, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Officer Tom Davis was alerted to an unattended green knapsack in the park and immediately called for a bomb team, said FBI Special Agent Woody Johnson.
A two-man team from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms responded and saw wires and what appeared to be three 10-inch-long pipe bombs protruding from the knapsack, a federal law-enforcement source said.
Each was a galvanized metal pipe about a foot long and roughly 3 inches in diameter. Wires were sticking out of at least one of the pipes, the source said. It was not clear whether the three pipes were all part of one bomb or three separate ones. Security officials then tried to clear the area without causing panic, but within two to three minutes, the device went off.
“All we said was, ‘Get off the grass,’ ” Davis said, adding that they chose not to disclose news of the bomb scare. “We didn’t want to create panic.”
Authorities praised the law enforcement officials for their quick action, which may have prevented the blast from being much deadlier.
The bomb, which federal law enforcement sources said was crudely covered by a Tupperware container packed with nails and screws, detonated near a sound and light tower at Centennial Olympic Park, sending shrapnel flying through the crowd of thousands who were listening to the band Jack Mack and the Heart Attack.
“Sounds like they were pretty crudely made,” said a law enforcement source. “Usually they’re taped around the outside so, you know, they’ll go out.”
Johnson said the 911 tapes yielded few clues, other than the caller was probably a white American male with no distinguishable accent.
GBI officers, however, had cordoned off a bank of pay phones about two blocks from the bomb site where the 911 call was believed to have been made, searching for fingerprints or any sign of evidence. Authorities also had a picture of the knapsack before the bomb exploded; they are expected to review amateur video tapes to see if anyone caught an image of the bomber.
Law enforcement and military sources in Washington stressed that the investigation was only beginning, but initial reports from the bombing led them to believe that the incident was an act of domestic rather than international terrorism, possibly linked to an extremist group.
Brian Levin, who has consulted with police and federal law enforcement agencies on developing profiles of potential terrorists, noted the “perverse attraction of the Olympics for domestic terrorists. The Olympics represent international cooperation, a one-world conspiracy to take away rights.”
He also said that “pipe bombs are one of the crude devices that are popular with the anti-government movement. It fits in with the kind of stuff we’ve seen with the anti-government people.”
A 44-year-old woman, identified as Alice Hawthorne, 44, of Albany, Ga., suffered a severe head injury and died of cardiac arrest on the scene. A Turkish television cameraman, Melih Uzunyol, died of a heart attack while running to film the explosion’s aftermath. A friend of Uzunyol’s, journalist Zafer Akyol, said he had a history of heart problems.
In the moments after the blast, the park was a scene of confusion. Some cheered, thinking the explosion was part of the concert; others screamed and fled. Most of the uninjured simply stood there, dumfounded until the realization set in that terrorism had struck.
“We heard a huge boom. We thought maybe it was fireworks,” said Terri Tyson, 35, of Atlanta. “Then we saw three guys laying on the street with leg injuries. It was a bomb. It sounded like a bomb, then everybody started to panic.”
At least 10 athletes from Cuba and Argentina stood a few feet away from the blast, said Sheryl Fillmore, a friend of a Cuban judo competitor, evading injury.
Surrounding streets were converted into a triage, as scores of ambulances waited to usher the injured to area hospitals.
Among those injured were six Georgia State Patrol agents and GBI’s Steve Blackwell, said Sid Miles, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety. They all were treated and released yesterday.
“Some people looked really messed up. There were rivers of blood,” said witness Desmond Edwards.
Flags were lowered to half-staff and a moment of silence was observed at all Olympic venues, casting a pall over the day’s events. U.S. soldiers replaced Atlanta police officers at many security checkpoints, and traffic blockades littered the city.
The bomb also led the FBI to seize control of the overall Olympic security forces, under procedures authorized by President Clinton in the event of a terrorist act at the Games.
In the evening, one of Atlanta’s busiest underground train stations was evacuated because of a bomb threat, police said.
Security was on red alert at every Olympic venue. At the beach volleyball tournament, the discovery of an unattended black nylon bag caused authorities to clear about 100 people from the area. The bag was eventually claimed by its owner.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee and dozens of other track stars had to submit to search by hand-held metal detectors before they were allowed into the half-empty stadium on the busiest day of the Olympics.
Downtown, police detained a man in camouflage fatigues and questioned him, in full sight of a gathering crowd, for about 20 minutes before taking his picture and releasing him.
At a major overpass leading to the Olympic Village, an abandoned car caused a traffic blockade of more than an hour outside the boxing venue, Alexander Memorial Coliseum, as U.S. military personnel made sure the vehicle was not housing a bomb.
At Lake Lanier, site of the rowing finals, soldiers with machine guns slung around their necks patrolled the grandstands, while others manned the security checkpoints. The line of grim-faced spectators stretched past the entrance gate and onto the road where shuttle buses dropped passengers off.
The bomb even heightened security measures at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. For example, said spokeswoman April Majors, airport security will conduct “constant, random checks of trash receptacles.”
Federal officials, however, said they did not believe yesterday’s bombing had any connection to the TWA Flight 800 explosion or the Oklahoma City bombing.
They also sought to downplay the possible connection between the bombing and the April arrest of three right-wing members of a Georgia militia group calling itself the 112th Regiment, Militia-at-Large for the Republic of Georgia.
They face trial on charges that they conspired to make pipe bombs and planned to stockpile explosives, weapons and other military equipment for a terror campaign.
The park was closed yesterday, as investigators continued to search for clues or other explosive devices.
Debbie Suess of Appleton, Wis., covered her mouth with one hand and held tightly to her daughter’s with the other as she stared toward the park, where her family felt it had a small stake. “We’ve got a brick in there,” she said.
Much of the park was paved with more than 300,000 commemorative bricks, sold for $35 each to help pay the $60 million construction cost.
But yesterday, some of the bricks were stained with blood, or covered with bloody sheets from the previous night’s disaster.
Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/deadly-bomb-stuns-olympics-article-1.731232