Astrid Pizarro
Writing Exercise
Bombing
3/14/12

ATLANTA, GA- Richard Jewell is no longer a suspect of the Olympic Park bombing that occurred on Jul. 27, 1996 in which one person was killed and 111 citizens were injured.

On Jul. 27, a pipe bomb exploded in the Olympic Park. After the bombing, Jewell is praised as a hero but on Jul. 30 everything changed as he was identified as a suspect in the bombing. 

Today, Jewell gave a press conference after the FBI declared that he was no longer a suspect of the bombing. “As I told you on Jul. 30, and as the government has admitted to you two days ago, I am not the Olympic Park bomber,” expressed Jewell.

Jewell explains that he was just doing his job that day and not setting out to be the hero. “The media started calling me a hero,” he commented. “The bomb technician who crawled on his belly and got next to the bomb was a hero,” added Jewell.

Aside from mentioning that he was just doing his job during the bombing, Richard Jewell feared that he was going to be charged for the crime like this.

“I am a man who from Jul. 30 to Oct. 26, lived every waking minute of those 88 days afraid that I would be arrested and charged with a horrible crime I did not commit,” he said. “For 88 days, I lived a nightmare.”

For Jewell, it was a hard situation to go through and he hopes that the authorities are more cautious when it comes to crime solving. “I will now move on with my life. I have not had time to focus on any definite plans, but I am going to try to re-enter law enforcement,” he stated.

Richard Jewell is now satisfied knowing that he is no longer a suspect of the bombing. “My faith in God, and knowing that I was innocent, giving me a peace of mind, that if I kept going forward, one day at a time, one day it will over,” he mentioned.