Cars Bore Brunt Of Second Blast At Abortion Clinic

Two bombs that rocked an abortion clinic were powerful enough to scatter debris for blocks, yet a pair of cars took the brunt of the damage from the second blast and likely prevented deaths, a federal official said Friday.

“To me, the most remarkable thing about this case so far was that nobody was killed,” U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander told a news conference.

At least six people suffered mostly minor injuries in the second explosion. With the exception of an FBI agent, all had been released from the hospital by Friday. However, a Fulton County fire marshal was slightly injured Friday morning when he was inside the building and part of the structure collapsed on him.

No one has claimed responsibility for the two bombs that exploded Thursday outside an abortion clinic north of Atlanta, and Alexander refused to name any suspects.

Few details of the bombs were released at Friday’s news conference, but authorities did say they have determined that the first bomb was placed outside the clinic at the rear of the building. The second, which exploded about an hour later, was next to a trash container in the parking lot.

“These were two very powerful bombs,” Alexander said. “Shrapnel and parts of the bomb were recovered some distance away, including on top of a seven-story building adjacent” to the office building.

Alexander credited two cars parked next to the trash bin for absorbing the shock of the second blast and preventing serious injuries or deaths among the rescue workers, journalists and bystanders drawn by the first blast.

Additional sweeps by law enforcement officers were being done at abortion clinics in the Atlanta area Friday, and they will continue through next week’s anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade.

More than 200 hundred people have called a toll-free number set up by investigators and some have produced leads, Alexander said, declining to give details.