In this first episode of a multipart 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.
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
[Feature Photo: FILE –Visitors fill Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, site of a fatal bombing Saturday, July 27, 1996, in this Wednesday, July 31 file photo. The bomb exploded at the base of the sound and light tower, left. Today, Monday June 9, 1997, federal and state authorities held a news conference to give an update on the investigations of the three Atlanta bombings and solicit public support. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)]
