The Olympic Park Bombing Part 1 | Eyewitness Account with Irv Brandt

2025-08-27

In this first episode of a multi-part Zone 7 series on the 1996 Olympic Park bombing, CSI Sheryl McCollum talks with her longtime colleague Irv Brandt, a former Atlanta police officer and U.S. marshal. Brandt was on duty when the bomb exploded in Centennial Park. He recalls pulling the injured to safety, protecting bomb evidence, and witnessing the moment security guard Richard Jewell went from hero to suspect. The investigation later led to Eric Rudolph, a domestic terrorist tied to multiple bombings.

Brandt was on duty when the bomb exploded in Centennial Park. He recalls pulling the injured to safety, protecting bomb evidence, and witnessing the moment security guard Richard Jewell went from hero to suspect. The investigation later led to Eric Rudolph, a domestic terrorist tied to multiple bombings.

Listeners will learn how frontline officers responded in the first minutes and what lessons still guide law enforcement today. Irv Brandt is a retired U.S. Marshal, a former Atlanta police officer, and a U.S. Navy veteran. He served as attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica and worked with Interpol and the Department of Justice, investigating cases in more than 50 countries.

He is the author of the Jack Solo crime fiction series and has appeared on America’s Most Wanted, Escape to Vegas, and Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.

To learn more about Irv Brandt, find him on X @JackSoloAuthor

Highlights:

(0:00) Sheryl opens the Olympic Park Bombing series with guest Irv Brandt
(2:45) A 911 caller warns: “There's a bomb in Centennial Park. You have 30 minutes.”
(3:00) The bomb explodes, injuring 111 and killing two in the Olympic crowd
(7:15) Policing Atlanta's violent Zone 3 and building frontline experience
(12:15) Securing VIP gates and athletes inside Centennial Park
(14:45) “I thought the building exploded.” Irv describes the blast
(16:30) Pulling injured agents to safety and guarding bomb evidence
(21:45) Watching Richard Jewell shift from hero to suspect
(27:30) Reconstructing the pipe bomb from nails, a battery, and an alarm clock
(31:15) Launching the search for Eric Rudolph, later tied to more bombings
(32:00) Appearing on global news as the bombing coverage unfolds
(38:30) Applying lessons on teamwork in mass-casualty response
(40:15) Closing with a quote from Irv’s book Solo Shot: Curse of the Blue Stone

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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnline, forensic and crime scene expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and co-author of the textbook Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. She is the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a national collaboration that advances techniques for solving cold cases and assists families and law enforcement with unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnappings.

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