Centennial+Olympic+Park+Bombing

=Centennial Olympic Park Bombing=

Overview
The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a terrorist bombing in Atlanta, Georgia on July 27, 1996 during the 1996 Summer Olympic games, only one of four committed by Eric Robert Rudolph, a former explosives expert for the United States Army. Two people were killed in the bombing, and 111 were injured. Centennial Olympic Park was the town square of the Olympics, and thousands of spectators had gathered for a concert by the band Jack Mack and the Heart Attack. Shortly after midnight, Rudolph planted a U.S. military Alice pack containing three pipe bombs surrounded by nails underneath a bench near a concert sound tower and left the area. The bomb was directed outward and would have done more damage but at some point, it was tipped. It was the largest pipe bomb in U.S. history. The bomb itself weighed in excess of 40 pounds. Eric Robert Rudolph was also guilty of the Sandy Springs and Other side bombs. They were linked together with this first device because all were propelled by nitroglycerin dynamite, were timed with an alarm clock and held by Rubbermaid containers, and contained steel plates for a directional explosion.

Critical Issue
Security guard Richard Jewell discovered the bag and alerted Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers immediately, 9 minutes later, he called 911 to warn them of the package. Jewell and other security guards started to clear the surrounding area of spectators and move them to a safe location, meanwhile, a bomb squad investigated the bomb. At 1:20 AM, the bomb exploded. Richard Jewell was considered a hero by the people he saved but also a potential suspect in the bombing by the authorities. Jewell, at the time, was unknown to authorities. He was never arrested or named as more than a "person of interest". Jewell's home was searched mercilessly and his background extensively checked. After Jewell was cleared, the FBI had no other suspects, and the investigation was at a standstill until 1997. Two more bombings took place at an abortion clinic and a lesbian nightclub in the Atlanta area. The bombs were eerily similar and this allowed investigators to conclude that this was the work of the same perpetrator. One more bombing of an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama give the police what they needed, a partial license plate. This lead to a trail of clues that after five years lead to the capture of Rudolph in Murphy, North Carolina.

Conclusion
On April 8, 2005, the government announced Rudolph would plead guilty to all four bombings, including the Centennial Olympic Park attack. Rudolph is currently serving four life terms without the possibility of parole at ADX Florence super max prison in Florence, Colorado. To avoid a possible death sentence, Rudolph has agreed to a deal with federal prosecutors as he revealed the whereabouts of all the dangerous explosives he buried in Cherokee County, N.C. before his capture. On August 22, 2005 , Rudolph was sentenced to three back to back terms of life imprisonment without parole for the Georgia incidents along with the one that he had already received for the Centennial bombings. Rudolph apologized to all the victims of his bombings through a statement that he had prepared before his departure to prison. His reasoning was that he was angry at the government and he had hoped that after his bombing, the remainder of the Olympics would be canceled.

References (2009-10.1.2.A) (www.washingtonpost.com) (www.trutv.com)