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16th Street Church Bombing — Part 11
Page 17
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Addie Mae Collins, 14, of 232 Sixth Court West,
Qnesckildk head was blown off by the blast,
chests of others were a bloody mass. -
The
fects PARRISH, chairman of the board of trus-
fees"of thé church, said the children killed had apparent-
Rone into the basement. where the women's restroom
is located, before the general assembly for Sunday
School was to’ start. :
Sunday school had started at 9:30 a.m, The blast,
judging by 2 stopped clock in the church, occurred at
30:22 am,
Fifteen other Negroes were trealed at University
Hospital for multiple lacerations caused by flying brick
and mortar and glass when the bomh went off al the
church, Several others were hurt but did nat seek hos-
pital treatment
Several white vennte hreaght
within an hour of che explosion.
bricks thrown by angry
church,
The blast brought quick reaction. some of it bloody
A Negra youth was fatally shot by Birmingham po-
‘e officers in an alley olf 26th Street North, near
ighth, Avenue, about 4 p.m. Sunday. Pole said the |
Negro was throwing rocks at automobiles passing
wore nin the hosp)
They had been hit hy
Negroes near the bombed
‘along ith Street. Offivers said they fired over his
Fieail:* init he apparently was stuck by d ie
shots.
THE NEGRO WAS IDENTIFIED as Johnnie Robin-
son, 16, of fath St. North.
Investigators fot the city’s Fire Prevention Bureau
found shreds of material which they identified as burned
feroeald, no bra:
ticles or other neta tas feud
near the scene, En bolstered his belief that the blast
was caused by dynamite sticks set off with .a lighted
fuse rather than a bomb and timing device. ~.. ~
:At Montgomery, Wallace, issyed this statement: .
“The church bombing’ in Birmingham ,today'‘is ‘a
tragic event which has saddened all -Alabamians. The
perpetrators of this vicious crime must be brought to
justice. Moyet
‘1 serve notice on those resj ‘ible: that every
Jaw enforcement agency of this state will be used to
apprehend them,
“ALL AVAILABLE LAW ENFORCEMENT agencies
of the state of Alabama, including the Birmingham
units of the Alabama National Guard not now fed-
eralized, have been alerted for duty in Birmingham.
"Col. AL Lingo, state director cf public safety has
been in constant touch with Birmingham Police Chief
Jamie Moore and has advised Chief Moore that the en-
tire state trooper contingent is available for immediate
use in Birmingham.
“T have offered a reward of $5,000 for the arrest and
conviction of person or persons responsible for the
bombing this morning.
Police Capt. Jack Warren credited work of an unnamed
Negro Civil Defense captain for preventing an outbreak
of violence at the church following the expiosion.
5
“| FEARED FOR MY LIFE,” said Warren. who was
one of the first officers to reach the scene. “f tried to
dispetse the crowd with my megaphone, but was having
no luck. Then the Negro Civil Defense official came up
wilh his bullhorn, He set up ropes and the crowd grad-
fuse near the scene of the explosion, outside the \6th ually dispersed
Street side entrance
The fire marshal theorized that 10 sticks of dynamite
did the work.
He speculated the “homber could have parked
Ris cary bleck finn che church, lighted a fuse 1 feet
Jons of moze pn! the Aynamite in a shoe bax or
poed in heavy paper, then walked to the 16th Street
side of the churcit
There he could have dropped his package into the
stairwell. which ended four feet below the sidewalk
level at the hasement door. Then he could have walked
slowly hack to his car and gone several blocks before
the explosion came.”
thar
RSHAL SAID fuse of the type by
last burns “40 seconds tO-the-Tamt.””
+ <—Hegroes threw rocks and bricks at police when they
first arrived, Police fired shotgun blasts over the heads
of Negroes near the church in attempts to disperse the
crowd at first. An hour after the blast, police reported
the crowd was “pretty orderty
The church, a brick structure constructed in 18. was
a tragic sight atter the blast. Broken glass covered its
i6th Street side. Numbed parents and relatives of chil-
dren in the Sunday School wandered about in silence.
“Oh. my God. That's my kid... she's dead...
she's dead,” a Negro man screamed as a Small twisted
body was lifted from the ruins.
POLICE KEPT HIM FROM running through the gap-
ing hole in side of the enurch as the child was placed on
a stretcher. .
Hysterical screams from Negroes who had children
attending Sunday School at the chucch echoed around the
church.
‘A car bearing a Confederate flag drove up to the
church and Negroes began shouting and yelling. Police
made the driver remove the fag.
‘Occupants of the vehicle said Negroes had thrown a
rock througn the front window near the church
Gunfire sounded along Eighth Avenue North as police
fired in the air to disperse rock-throwing Negroes.
"The city’s riot tank roamed the alleys and strects.
Police radios blared as more ambulances were cleared
to enter the area. All shifts of police were called and
ordered to report to Kelly Ingram Park, across from
the chureh. -
—
POLICE LINES WERE SET UP and traffic was re-
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