Agents Fired On During Hunt for Bombing Suspect

Shots were fired at the command post where federal agents are directing the manhunt for bombing suspect Eric Rudolph, with one bullet grazing an investigator’s head, authorities said Thursday.

The motive and the person who fired the shots were unknown, agents said. There was no evidence Rudolph was involved.

Task force leaders downplayed the shooting’s significance.

“Andrews, North Carolina, is known as the ‘Little Town With a Big Heart,’ ” Southeast Bomb Task Force leader Terry Turchie said. “That slogan is representative of the people in this community, not last night’s shooting incident.”

Rudolph, a 32-year-old carpenter, is charged with bombing an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Ala., on Jan. 29, killing an off-duty policeman and maiming a nurse. He also is charged in three Atlanta attacks, including the 1996 Olympic Park bombing that killed one person.

The shots were fired about 8 p.m. Wednesday from across a soccer field about 300 yards from the fenced-in building. One bullet pierced the wall and “brushed the hair” of one agent.

“He’s very, very fortunate, thank goodness,” Atty. Gen. Janet Reno said in Washington.

Investigators quickly searched the area by foot and with helicopters but found no one. Some agents were surprised anyone would risk such an assault on the post, which is guarded around the clock.

The shooting comes as the task force has increased its presence from fewer than 80 agents to 200 or more to take advantage of the thinning forest foliage.

Rudolph, an outdoorsman who grew up in the area, vanished into the rugged Nantahala National Forest more than eight months ago, agents say.