TERROR IN OKLAHOMA CITY : “Mad Bomber” a Hoax

Reports that a suspect in the Oklahoma City bombing had described himself as a “Mad Bomber” on the America Online computer service turned out to be false. An unidentified AOL subscriber apparently created a “Timothy McVeigh” sub-account, or “screen name,” on Friday, two days after the real McVeigh had been taken into custody. According to a report broadcast Friday night on NBC, the hoax profile carried the quote, “Let us take back the government . . . or die trying. Boom.” An AOL spokeswoman said the sub-account was later deleted by its creator. She did not indicate what action AOL might take against the subscriber.

Memorable Snapshot

Bank employee Charles Porter IV didn’t realize his snapshot of a dying Baylee Almon cradled in a firefighter’s arms was special until three clerks at Wal-Mart, where he developed the film, started to cry. “I was only thinking that they came out clear, they’re in focus,” said Porter, 25, who keeps his camera handy in the trunk of his car. He had been in his office three blocks from the federal building when he heard the blast. Thinking it might be a planned demolition, he headed to the scene but was swept up in a tide of horror. He didn’t know what he’d captured on film until he had it processed an hour later. “The only time I knew the pictures were dramatic . . . was when employees (at the store) started looking at them and were weeping,” he said. A photography professor friend suggested Porter take them to the Associated Press, which beamed the picture around the globe. Ever since, Porter says, his life has been in chaos, the phone ringing off the hook. He can’t even bring himself to pick up his camera.