Wednesday, May 22, 1996

Laredo residents wonder how terror could come to their town

By Associated Press

LAREDO (AP) - An explosion at an office building housing the FBI has rattled Laredo residents, who are wondering how such an attack could happen in their town.

"It's scary. A lot of people could (have been) hurt," said Rosa Felix, a clerk at a hotel a few blocks away. The explosion early Monday was still the talk of Laredo on Tuesday.

Most people are asking, "Who did it? Who put the thing there?" Felix said.

That's what FBI and other federal agents were asking, too.

The explosion shattered windows on three floors of the five-story Walker Plaza building. No one was injured. Only two people are believed to have been in the building when the blast occurred at 6:50 a.m. Monday.

FBI spokesman Michael Appleby on Tuesday characterized the explosive device as an improvised bomb that was "small and unsophisticated." It was not known whether the FBI office was the
intended target, Appleby said.
The FBI's Laredo office with its 12 agents is housed on the second floor of Walker Plaza on the opposite side of the building from the bomb blast.

Among the other building tenants are South Texas National Bank; Merrill Lynch; a members-only dinner club; and real estate and law offices. A branch of the Houston-based law firm Phillips & Akers, which does insurance defense work, was one of the closest offices to the explosion.

The building was fully reopened by mid-Tuesday to its tenants, including the FBI, although yellow police tape still encircled the premises.

FBI and other federal agents searched a grassy spot Tuesday just outside the building next to a small tree and flower bed. Officials have said the explosive device was placed 3 to 5 feet from the building.

Investigators found a 2-foot impression in the grass, said Don Tisaby, assistant special agent in charge for the FBI.

Agents also are pursuing leads from phone calls, including one from a man who called a Laredo television station about 8:35 a.m. Monday claiming responsibility for the explosion. He said he belonged to the group "Organization 544."

"Agents here are familiar with a gang that may have used those numbers in the past. We're not certain that the caller was indeed a member of this group. ... It may have been a prank caller," Appleby said.

The suspect or suspects could face several federal charges, he said. It is a federal offense to knowingly damage a building housing a federal agency or damage a business that engages interstate commerce, such as a bank.

Laredo Police Chief J.L. Martinez said that in the past Laredo has experienced bomb threats on both its international bridges and at City Hall.

"But we've never had something like this," he said. "We're taking all the precautions for City Hall and some of the other city offices."
Several bomb threats were called in after Monday's blast, but no other explosive devices were found.