NAACP Office Hit by Gas Bomb; 8 Hurt

A package containing what appeared to be a tear-gas bomb was mailed to the Southeastern regional headquarters of the NAACP and injured eight people when it spewed gas throughout an office building.

Civil rights leaders denounced the attack as apparently racist, and federal officials said they will investigate to see if civil rights were violated.

A caustic gas, “similar to tear gas,” spread from the NAACP office through air-conditioning ducts into nearby offices in the two-story building just southwest of downtown Atlanta, Assistant Fire Chief Walter Campbell said.

Two Children Hurt

The eight injured people, taken to two downtown hospitals, included two children, ages 4 months and 12 years. No one was seriously hurt, spokesmen at Grady Memorial Hospital and Georgia Baptist Medical Center said. At least five of the injured were able to go home within a few hours.

Two staff members in the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People office when the bomb went off, Regional Executive Director Earl T. Shinhoster and secretary Murlene Murray, fled and suffered only burning sensations in their eyes and throats, Murray said.

“This is just a terrible experience,” she added. “We’ve never experienced anything like this before in the 20 years I’ve worked here.”

“This is a very evil and dastardly act,” Shinhoster said. “I don’t know why anyone would want to try to hurt innocent people like this.”

The package, “no bigger than a hat box,” arrived by Postal Service “priority mail,” Shinhoster said. It was addressed to the NAACP and not to anyone in particular.

The return address listed a law office and a location, “but I’m sure it was fictitious,” Murray said. She did not recall a specific name on the return address.

Shinhoster said that he and Murray opened the package just after noon and immediately saw sparks. Two loud pops were then heard, and a cylinder in the package began emitting a white-yellow caustic smoke, Shinhoster said. The package remained largely intact.

Officers from the Postal Service, the FBI, the city police and the city arson squad were investigating, Campbell said.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) was in the neighborhood speaking to a community group when he heard about the incident and went to the scene.

“Any time something like this would come to the NAACP office, you have to believe it’s racially motivated,” Lewis, a veteran of the civil rights movement, said.