At 9:30 a.m. on January 16, a professional building in the northern Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs containing the office of the Atlanta Northside Family Planning Services sustained two explosions. No one was injured in the first blast which police think may have been a bomb, but the explosion broke windows and rocked nearby buildings. However, at least six people, including a cameraman and an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, were injured in a subsequent blast in a dumpster outside the building an hour later. The second blast also damaged two cars parked near the dumpster and scattered debris over the area. Police Lt. C.C. Cass said, “It appears that the clinic was the target of (that) explosion. We can’t confirm, but it appears to be some kind of explosive device.”
As a security precaution, Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell dispatched extra police officers to all abortion clinics in the city. Employees of the clinic were able to exit the clinic safely after the blast. Employee Antonette Simms said she believed the first explosion to have taken place in the front portion of the clinic. The clinic is located on the ground floor of a five-story building. A federal task force has been set up to investigate the explosions.
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