Atlanta Bomb Shots Show Hooded Man

After examining thousands of photos and videotapes, the FBI says it has images appearing to show a man with a hood sitting on a bench in Olympic Park about an hour before a bomb went off in that same spot.

The images of the man were taken at 12:19 a.m. on July 27, 1996. Investigators also have a videotape taken at 12:28 a.m. of a parcel or backpack under the vacated bench where the bomb later exploded.

Jack Daulton, the agent heading the investigation of the Olympic bombing and two other bombings in Atlanta this year, said Thursday that investigators are appealing to the public for more images to fill in that nine-minute gap.

The blast at about 1:20 a.m. killed one person and injured 100 others.

Daulton said it is hard to tell from the photo and video images whether the man is wearing a hood or if shadows make it appear that way.

“But the picture makes it look like he might have a hood on,” Daulton said, noting that would be very unusual for a hot summer night.

Investigators are also intrigued because they are trying to identify a man wearing a hooded sweat shirt seen outside a suburban abortion clinic Jan. 16, hours before two bombs exploded there.

Seven people were injured in the bombing at the clinic. Four people were injured about five weeks later when a bomb went off at an Atlanta club that caters to homosexuals.

Investigators believe that all three bombings were carried out by the same person or group.