Second Bomb Mailed to 11th Circuit Court

Bomb squads found explosives in a package addressed to “someone in the court system” at the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals headquarters today, two days after a letter bomb killed an 11th Circuit judge in Alabama.

Shaken employees were evacuated from the five-story court building in downtown Atlanta shortly before 10 a.m. The bomb, in a small brown package, was discovered during a random sampling of the mail.

An officer in head-to-toe protective gear removed the package--about 10 inches by 10 inches and four inches deep--and placed it in a bomb-proof canister. It was taken “to a safe location,” police Maj. W. W. Holley said.

The Atlanta incident occurred just two days after 11th Circuit Judge Robert Vance was killed by a letter bomb in his Alabama home. Vance’s wife remains hospitalized with injuries suffered in the blast.

“While screening the mail in the federal courthouse in Atlanta, a second device containing a similar explosive device was found,” FBI Agent Allen Whittaker said. “That matter is being approached with a great deal of caution.”

Whittaker said the package was addressed to “someone in the court system” but would not elaborate.

Police and military bomb experts continued to search the court building, a national historic site.

Military explosives experts from nearby Ft. Gillem arrived on the scene and carried bomb disposal equipment into the structure.

The package had an address label on the front and had come by mail, not hand delivery, Holley said. He refused to say to whom the package was addressed.

Officers examined X-ray pictures before removing the package through the court’s front door under a large flag flying at half-staff in memory of Vance.

Officials have speculated that Vance’s murder may have had something to do with his reviews of drug cases in Florida, including a connection to Colombian drug lords. One official played down the Colombian drug angle, saying, “We have no motive and no suspects.”