White Man Arrested In Bombings At Florida A&M University

Jet, Oct 18, 1999

A 41-year-old White man was arrested on federal charges in connection with two small bombings at predominantly Black Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, the FBI said.

Lawrence Michael Lombardi, an unemployed father of two from Tallahassee, was arrested after agents searched his home. He was charged with a single count of manufacturing a bomb pending formal charges later, said FBI agent Tom Kneir.

"We are relieved and thankful," said Florida A&M provost James Ammons. "This is a happy day for Florida A&M because we can again focus on our educational mission."

Two small explosions have gone off at the campus since Aug. 31. No one was injured in either blast, but strident racist telephone calls accompanied each incident and warned of further attacks, spreading fear on the 12,000-student campus.

The FBI released tapes of the telephone calls and a surveillance camera photo of a man buying something at a local home improvement store the day before the first blast.

They later said the man in the photo was Lombardi and that tips from the public aider the photo and tapes were released led authorities to him.