Paris Parcel Bomb

[genuinegirly]

Another horrible occurance.

PARIS, France (CNN) -- French officials are trying to determine who sent a letter bomb that exploded Thursday in a Paris law office, killing a female assistant who opened the package.

The blast seriously injured a lawyer standing nearby, but his injuries are not life-threatening, French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said

Speaking from the scene hours after the blast, Alliot-Marie said a courier delivered the "makeshift" letter bomb a short time before it detonated at approximately 12:50 p.m. (6:50 a.m. ET).

She said two explosive devices were inside the parcel -- one detonated and the other did not.

The package containing explosives was delivered to a fourth floor law office in a building on the Boulevard Malesherbes in Paris' 8th district, near the Champs-Elysees.

The office handles civil and commercial work, according to Paris prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin, who is participating in the investigation. It is unclear why it would be the target of an attack, Marin said.

He added it was unclear who the package was addressed to because of the extent of the damage.

Lawyer Christian Charriere-Bournazel told The Associated Press: "Someone came to the office and left a package. The secretary that opened it in fact opened a parcel bomb. The parcel bomb killed her."

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe called it "a despicable act which must be condemned."

"It is my duty to first express my strongest condemnation of such a serious act, my compassion for the victim and her next of kin and for all the people who have been traumatized and shocked by such an act," he said.

The building contains several law offices, including the former firm of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and an office for a foundation dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust, police said.

Serge Klarsfeld, a former Nazi war criminal hunter who is affiliated with the Holocaust foundation, told CNN he did not believe that office was the target of the attack.

A construction worker, who witnessed the aftermath, said a torrent of emergency workers descended upon the building.

"We were working on the building site and we heard the firemen and police sirens and they blocked the whole street," a construction worker told CNN affiliate, BFM TV.

"Then we saw a woman who came out wounded, covered in blood and who was hurting and she appeared to have a wound in her stomach and had blood on her legs. So they took her to a small store to take care of her, then we saw the bomb squad arrive who went inside the building to see what was going on and then the army arrived."

Hours after the blast, security was tight around the boulevard, which is lined with legal and financial offices.

Terrorist action, or what? Does anyone know the motives for this one? Seems as though the incident is worthless if one can't tell distinguish the reasons why it was done. Why would someone send a package to a meaningless government office in the middle of Paris? Why would someone target the "office for a foundation dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust," as this article implies. I just don't understand.

The poor secretary.

[Fotzlid]

must be a personal grudge

[genuinegirly]

If it was a personal grudge, wouldn't it have been sent to someone in particular? The secretary seems to have opened the package to determine where it should be sent.

[Fotzlid]

killing a female assistant who opened the package.

The blast seriously injured a lawyer standing nearby

maybe opening his mail was part of her office duties.
maybe the label intrigued her and the lawyer let her open it.
maybe the lawyer was messing around with the assistant and his wife is jealous and unstable.

[superposition]

Perhaps it was a disgruntled former client...someone who just got out of prison after serving 15 for aggravated assault he didn't commit.

[MSD]

Speaking from the scene hours after the blast, Alliot-Marie said a courier delivered the "makeshift" letter bomb a short time before it detonated at approximately 12:50 p.m. (6:50 a.m. ET).

Makeshift bomb? As opposed to the professionally assembled and quality-checked letter bombs you can get from the Skymall catalog?

[Baraka_Guru]

Originally Posted by MrSelfDestruct

Makeshift bomb? As opposed to the professionally assembled and quality-checked letter bombs you can get from the Skymall catalog?

Perhaps as opposed to what the IRA would have come up with.

[MzNadia]

Don't those bomb geeks like sending those out just to see if they work?

Maybe that's the case.

[Baraka_Guru]

What the hell are bomb geeks? Analog hackers?

[MzNadia]

Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru

What the hell are bomb geeks? Analog hackers?

Freshly made term out of MzNadia's library of "WTF". It's a random thing and I can't help it when it happens.

anyway..."bomb geek" as opposed to "computer geek". Someone who knows their shit really well but not sure if it will work or not till it's tried.

[MSD]

Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru

Perhaps as opposed to what the IRA would have come up with.

In that case, it's ironic that the makeshift one would kill the recipient when the IRA's "professional" letter bombing campaign failed to do so.

Originally Posted by MzNadia

Freshly made term out of MzNadia's library of "WTF". It's a random thing and I can't help it when it happens.

anyway..."bomb geek" as opposed to "computer geek". Someone who knows their shit really well but not sure if it will work or not till it's tried.

I'm not sure what they are, but I think there might be inherent problems with testing bombs to see if they work. I'd hate to be the quality control guy.

[host]

Here is the story of the most notorious US letter/package bomb maker. It took 18 years to apprehend him, and he did attempt to kill randomly:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Kaczynski