ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996               TAG: 9607310062
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: ATLANTA 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
note: above 

OLYMPIC `HERO' NOW CALLED TOP BOMB SUSPECT

A SECURITY GUARD denies planting the pipe bomb he reported before it killed a woman and wounded more than 100.

The ``hero'' security guard who first reported finding the knapsack bomb that exploded and terrorized the Atlanta Olympics has become a focus of the investigation, a federal law enforcement source said Tuesday.

``He looks good now, but there have been no arrests and the investigation is still continuing,'' said the Washington official, who spoke on condition he not be identified.

The bomb that exploded near the AT&T pavilion in Centennial Olympic Park early Saturday killed one woman and injured more than 100 other people.

The guard, Richard Jewell, 33, denied to reporters that he was responsible. An FBI spokesman in Atlanta, Paul Miller, would say only that investigators ``have been questioning many individuals.''

Jewell was working for a Los Angeles-based security firm, Anthony Davis & Associates, that was hired by AT&T to provide guards for the pavilion.

Hailed as a hero after the bombing because his apparent alertness prevented more casualties, Jewell had received bomb training while working as a deputy sheriff in northeastern Georgia, said the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which also reported he led the suspects list.

He may fit a profile that experts often cite for a lone bomber - a former police officer, military man or aspiring policeman who seeks to become a hero.

After the bombing, Jewell approached media outlets to seek publicity for his actions.

``The only thing I wish we could have done was got everybody out of the area,'' he said in a TV interview Saturday. ``I just hope we catch the people that did it.''

After he was reported to be a suspect Tuesday, he told reporters, ``No, sir, I didn't do it.''

``I'm sure everyone that works in the area or who came by the area is being investigated. They're being very thorough,'' he said.

Olympic organizers said Jewell had undergone a background check before being assigned to the park position.

The blast was preceded by an anonymous warning - a 911 telephone call - from someone believed to be a white American male. Jay Spadafore, an FBI spokesman, said Tuesday no evidence had been found pointing to involvement by more than one person.

For 10 minutes, Atlanta's 911 command center failed to report the bomb threat against Centennial Olympic Park because operators didn't know the park's address and couldn't enter the report in their computers without it, a source said Tuesday.

``The document I saw shows the first 10 minutes were taken up looking for an address,'' said the source, who has seen an eight-page summary prepared by the Police Department of events surrounding the call early Saturday.

A computer log also suggests a 10-minute delay in handling the call but does not give a reason. The Police Department has not made either document public.

When the bomb went off about 1:25 a.m., park security officers were evacuating the area near an outdoor stage - not because they knew of the threat, but because Jewell had seen the unattended knapsack that held the explosive.

The Police Department's computer-enhanced emergency system requires a 911 operator to enter a street address for a reported crime in order to transmit the information to a dispatcher, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The computer log shows that the operator finally found a street address for the park, but the source said it was not clear from the other documents how that was done.

A Washington law enforcement official said the audiotape of the 911 call and Jewell's subsequent interview tapes would be analyzed and compared.

The Washington source hastened to add, however, that others have not yet been ruled out as potential suspects.

LENGTH: Medium:   84 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:   1. AP Children play in Centennial Olympic Park's 
          fountain after the park  reopened Tuesday with a memorial service in
          Atlanta.  color
          2. headshot - Richard Jewell
          Suspect has bomb training