Vermilion County, Illinois bombings

Vermilion County bombings
LocationDanville, Oakwood
Date30 December 1997
24 May 1998
30 May 1998
TargetUnited Methodist Church
First Assembly of God Church
Attack type
Bombing, suicide bombing
WeaponsPipe bombs
Deaths2 (including the perpetrator)
Injured34
PerpetratorsRichard Dean White
MotivePersonal grievances (suspected)

The Vermilion County bombings were a series of three bombings in the towns of Danville and Oakwood, Illinois that killed two people and injured 34. The bombings were committed by Richard Dean White, an Army veteran and member of the Danville church he targeted in the second bombing.

First bombing

On 30 December 1997, White placed a pipe bomb triggered by a motion sensor inside a cooler outside United Methodist Church in Oakwood, Illinois. 46-year old Brian Plawer left the church and noticed the cooler. While attempting to move it the motion sensor activated, causing the pipe bomb to detonate. He was killed instantly. The bombing was heard throughout the town and caused minor damage to the United Methodist Church.[1][2]

Second bombing

On 24 May 1998, White went to First Assembly of God Church in Danville Illinois. There he went to the west side of the church and placed a pipe bomb on top of an air conditioning and heating unit next to an exterior support pillar. In the church, over 300 people were attending mass when the bomb detonated near the youth section. The explosion blew a 10 foot by 15-foot hole in the west side of the church.[3] Because the bomb was placed on the air conditioning unit and the way the bomb was built most of the fragments from the bomb flew over the congregation. No one was killed in the bombing however 34 people were injured.[4][5][6][7]

Investigation

After the first bombing both the ATF and the FBI got involved but were unable to find anything linking the bombing to an individual. After the second bombing, the ATF and FBI found that both bombs had a blue-insulated, silver-coated, single-strand wire in common. While the forensics teams were investigating the bomb's components, investigators were asking witnesses and members of the church about info that could lead to an arrest. Eventually, they came upon White as a person of interest as he was a member of the church but not a suspect.[8]

Third bombing

On 30 May 1998, the ATF went to interview White at his property but he wasn't there. A family member that was living at the premises said he was living with his mother and called ahead. Before the ATF could reach his house, White went into a garage on his property with his German shepherd dog.[9] At 4:44 PM he detonated a pipe bomb on himself, killing both himself and his dog instantly and damaging the garage. When the FBI went into the garage they found an unexploded bomb and the corpse of White with his dog.[10][11]

Motive

There are several possible motives as to why White committed the bombings. White had mental problems and spent time in the mental wards of multiple veterans’ hospitals over the course of several years.[12] Another possible reason or motive stems from his younger brother Randy Shotts who was injured in a swimming accident in 1986 that left him paralyzed. Multiple of the doctors who treated Shotts attended the two churches, and White is said to have had resentment at the way the doctors treated his brother.[13]

On 14 August 2009, the Forensic Files TV show aired an episode titled "Holy Terror" which overviewed the bombings.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Illinois Church Bombing a Mystery". associated press. 1 January 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Illinois Church Bombings Linked". associated press. 28 October 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Blast Kills Church Bomb Suspect". CBS News. 28 May 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Bomb responsible for church blast". CNN. 25 May 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  5. ^ "VICTIM OF BOMB LINKED TO BLASTS AT 2 CHURCHES". Chicago tribune. 24 October 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  6. ^ "'In the blink of an eye'". commercial news. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Illinois Church Bombings Linked". associated press. 28 October 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Illinois Church Bombings Linked". associated press. 28 October 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  9. ^ "'You don't forget something like that'". News gazette. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Explosion Kills A Man Sought In Bomb Case". New York times. 29 May 1989. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Man's Death Doesn't End Bomb Probe". associated press. 30 May 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Man's Death Doesn't End Bomb Probe". associated press. 30 May 1998. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Blast Kills Church Bomb Suspect". CBS News. 28 May 1998. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Holy Terror". TVMAZE. Retrieved 18 February 2022.