1996 Summer Olympics - Centennial Olympic Park Bombing

Centennial Olympic Park Bombing

The 1996 Olympics were marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing on July 27. Security Guard Richard Jewell discovered the pipe bomb and immediately notified law enforcement and helped evacuate as many people as possible from the area before it exploded. Although Jewell's quick actions are credited for saving many lives, the bombing killed spectator Alice Hawthorne, wounded 111 others, and caused the death of Melih Uzunyol by heart attack. Jewell was later considered a suspect (but never charged) in the bombing but was later exonerated. In 2003, Eric Robert Rudolph was charged with and confessed to this bombing as well as several abortion clinics and gay lesbian bars. He was sent to federal prison in Colorado serving a sentence of life imprisonment.

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