ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607300060
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Lede
The Games went on, but the buoyant Olympic spirit lay wounded Saturday in the aftermath of a bombing that killed one person, injured more than 100 and exploded hopes that this great global festival would escape the terrorism of a troubled world.
Inch by inch, federal agents searched Centennial Olympic Park, the site of the 1:25 a.m. bombing, for evidence. And the nation, still stunned by the loss of TWA Flight 800, searched for reasons someone would strike at the Atlanta Games.
Investigators keyed in on a 911 caller who calmly warned of an explosion in a half-hour. Just 18 minutes later, however, as police inspected a suspicious bag, the pipe-bomb blast sent terrified late-night revelers scattering ``like wildfire'' across downtown Atlanta.
``We will track them down. We will bring them to justice,'' President Clinton said of those responsible for the bomb. He spoke from Washington, where he had returned from an Olympic visit barely 24 hours before the attack.
No immediate claims of responsibility were reported.
Atlanta Fire Department Lt. Edwin Higginbotham identified the bombing victim as Alice S. Hawthorne, 44, a cable TV company receptionist from Albany, Ga. Her 14-year-old daughter, Fallon, who had been standing with her in the park, was hospitalized in stable condition with arm and leg wounds.
Turkish broadcasting officials said one of their cameramen, Melih Uzunyol, 40, died of a heart attack while running to film the explosion's aftermath.
Most of the 111 injured suffered minor wounds or shock, officials said. Only 11 were hospitalized after treatment, all in stable condition. At least two underwent surgery for shrapnel in their torsos.
Soon after the blast, an army of security personnel tightened their grip around the Olympics, halfway through the two-week schedule. For the first time, heavily armed soldiers were deployed at competition venues. Security checks caused delays and long lines.
``We must go into a different mode, a much more heightened sense of awareness,'' said Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell.
It was the first terrorism at the Olympics since the Munich Games of 1972, when Palestinians seized Israeli athletes in an attack that left 18 people dead in then-West Germany.
This time, the terror struck a vulnerable target, a new 21-acre downtown park ringed by office buildings and Olympic arenas, where tens of thousands of tourists and area residents have been gathering for pop-music concerts, to visit corporate pavilions and to simply soak in the ``Olympic spirit.''
Early Saturday, celebrants had blanketed the grass and walkways to hear the rock band Jack Mack and the Heart Attack play on a stage near the park's edge. In the nearby Georgia Dome, the U.S. basketball ``Dream Team'' had won its game against China just before midnight.
At 1:07 a.m., an unidentified caller at a pay phone just two blocks away told a 911 operator there would be an explosion in the park in 30 minutes, a law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity.
Investigators believe the caller was a white male. He had no distinguishable accent, said the FBI's Woody Johnson.
About the same time, witnesses later reported, a security guard advised police he had seen a suspicious-looking bag at the rear of the audience, near a corrugated-aluminum fence surrounding a sound-and-light tower.
Police moved spectators back as bomb squad officers examined the bag and saw three pipes inside, the federal official said. Before further action could be taken, the device exploded.
For a moment, puzzled hundreds just stood there after others fell, videotape of the scene showed.
``My first reaction was it was that it was a pyrotechnic,'' said Robert Gee of San Francisco.
``We thought it was part of the show,'' said another spectator, Willie Peters of Marietta, Ga. He was sitting with his family 30 yards from the blast. Then he looked to his side and saw his mother-in-law on the ground, crying in pain, hit in the back by metal debris.
The bomb, laden with nails and screws, had torn 15 feet of fence apart and sent shards of wood and metal flying.
``I had my back turned, and then when I heard the explosion, I felt this gust of wind,'' said James Lee of Detroit. ``People were trampling over each other to get out of there.''
Panic took hold.
``There was a wave of people coming out of the park,'' said Joe Cornwell, an employee at a nearby hotel. ``It spread like wildfire.''
Some three dozen emergency vehicles responded.
``I kept telling myself, it's not a bomb, it's something else, like a truck backfiring,'' said Fire Lt. James Westbrook. But ``when I first entered the park, there appeared to be 75 to 100 people down.''
Later, it seemed clear the damage could have been worse - if the guard had not noticed the bag, if police had not moved the crowd back, or if the bomb had been bigger.
Clinton said the ``brave security personnel prevented a much greater loss of life.'' Some security personnel were among the injured.
Local and federal officials said scores of threats and false alarms had been recorded since the Games began July 19. About 120 abandoned or suspicious parcels that were investigated had proved harmless.
The only major reported security lapse occurred at the opening ceremonies, when a man carrying a .45-caliber pistol entered the stadium. He was later released.
In April, reports surfaced that a Georgia ``militia'' group arrested for allegedly conspiring to stockpile bombs had its sights set on the Olympics. Those reports later were discounted, but they heightened concerns in Atlanta about the terrorist potential - concerns that grew when the TWA flight exploded and crashed July 17 off Long Island in what is widely thought to have been a terror bombing.
Compared with the sports venues, where spectators must pass through metal detectors to enter, security had been relaxed in Centennial Olympic Park, designed as a new central gathering place for Atlantans after the games.
Chief Atlanta Olympic organizer Billy Payne said Saturday no one had ever recommended tightening park security. ``People have to have some freedom of movement,'' he said.
Within hours of the explosion, Olympic organizers announced the tragic episode would not upset the competition schedule.
``The games will go on,'' said Francois Carrard, director general of the International Olympic Committee.
The decision found wide acceptance among athletes and fans.
``They're going to do their job,'' said Illinois visitor Jo Ellen Southerland, gesturing toward a guard as she waited to buy Olympic tickets. ``And mine is to go out and enjoy the games.''
The competition resumed Saturday with a moment of silence and the lowering of flags to half-staff at Olympic venues.
But the day-by-day impact on the plans of tens of thousands of fans who have not yet arrived in Atlanta remains to be seen.
Delta Air Lines reported ``no big stampede'' of travelers leaving the city. Some foresaw trouble, however.
``Are you kidding?'' asked an Olympic ticket hawker. ``It's going to kill us.''
The FBI's Johnson said a toll-free number had been established - (800)905-1514 - to take information on the case. He said investigators were especially interested in any photos or videos taken in the area before the explosion.
LENGTH: Long : 140 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Spectators tend to other visitors wounded byby CNBSaturday morning's bombing at Olympic Centennial Park in downtown
Atlanta. 2. Police moved people back but did not have time to defuse
a pipe bomb that sent shrapnel through this area of the park. color.
3. (headshot) Hawthorne. Graphic: Illustration & chart by AP.
color.