ERIC RUDOLPH CAPTURED

Special Agent in Charge Chris Swecker, Charlotte Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today the capture and arrest of Eric Robert Rudolph by local authorities in Murphy, North Carolina (NC). The arrest occurred at 4:30 am, by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department without incident. Rudolph was located pilfering through a dumpster in the Murphy, North Carolina area. Rudolph's identity was confirmed by FBI fingerprint comparison at 7:47 am, through the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

Rudolph is charged in connection with the bombing of a health clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, in which a police officer was killed and a nurse critically wounded. He is also charged in connection with the fatal bombings at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, the double bombings at the Sandy Springs Professional Office Building, North of Atlanta, and the double bombings at the Otherside Lounge in midtown Atlanta.

These bomb blasts injured more than 150 people. Rudolph is known to own firearms and to have targeted law enforcement.

Investigative efforts are underway to identify potential evidence surrounding Rudolph's criminal activities while he was a fugitive.