Rudolph link not ruled out in weekend bombing

A bomb partially detonated at the Femcare clinic in Asheville, North Carolina  MESSAGE BOARD: Abortion: Whose choice?

March 15, 1999
Web posted at: 12:28 p.m. EST (1728 GMT)

ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (CNN) -- Authorities don't rule out a connection between serial bombing fugitive Eric Rudolph and a weekend blast at a North Carolina women's clinic where abortions are performed, but they said on Monday they presently have no link between the two.

"We have no evidence at this time that this bomb is the work of Eric Rudolph," U.S. Attorney Mark Calloway told reporters at a news conference in Asheville. "Of course, it is too early to draw any conclusions," he said, adding that all leads are being followed.

The Femcare Clinic in Asheville, where a bomb partially detonated early on Saturday, is about 75 miles east of the mountainous area in North Carolina where Rudolph is thought to be hiding.

Evidence gathered by federal investigators after the weekend explosion was being checked to see if it has any similarities to previous bombings charged to Rudolph.

Richard Fox of the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said he could not reveal the results of the comparisons, but said there is no evidence at this point that suggests the explosion was the work of a "copycat."

He asked anyone with information about the Femcare bombing to call authorities at 1-888-ATF-BOMB.

An FBI wanted poster of Rudolph

The same number has been given in the past for anyone to report information about Rudolph.

Nobody was injured in the Femcare blast and there was little damage because the device only partially detonated.

Femcare was one of several clinics nationwide last month that received packages said to contain the potentially deadly bacterium anthrax. Nothing was found inside the packages sent to the clinics.

Rudolph has been on the run since the January 29, 1998, bombing of a clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, where abortions are performed. An off-duty police officer was killed and a nurse severely wounded in that blast.

Since then, he has been charged in that bombing and in three Atlanta attacks, including the 1996 Olympic Park bombing that killed one person.