Salt Lake City Bombing Arrest Suggests Library Was Targeted Randomly

-- Library Journal, 11/10/2006

It turns out that the Salt Lake City Public Library, victimized by a homemade bomb on September 15, was targeted randomly by a man with an animus toward the local police. That's the word after the arrest last week of Thomas Zajac, a Chicago-area man who formerly lived in the city. "There was no disagreement with the library," SLCPL spokeswoman Colleen McLaughlin told LJ. Zajac, who has a police record, was caught thanks to a fingerprint found at the scene, interviews with witnesses, and library surveillance tape. McLaughlin said the library hasn't changed its procedures. "Police believe our procedures were effective," she said. SLCPL was the Gale/LJ 2006 Library of the Year.

After the afternoon blast, which damaged a window but caused no injuries, the library closed for the afternoon but reoponed the next day. According to the AP, Zajac did not make a particularly sophisticated device, using some commonly found materials mounted on cardboard inside two white paper bags. Officials called it "sheer luck" that no one was injured. The Deseret Morning News reported that Zajac is a suspect in a similar incident, involving a bomb placed September 1 at a train station in Hinsdale, IL, outside Chicago. Police in Salt Lake City and Hinsdale both got anonymous letters threatening bomb attacks.