In the second incident of its kind this week, a mail bomb exploded Thursday and severely injured a noted scientist.
David Gelernter, 38, an associate professor of computer science at Yale University, was in critical condition Thursday evening--with severe injuries to his right hand, right eye and chest--after opening a parcel in his fifth-floor office on the Yale campus.
Law enforcement agencies were investigating to see if there was a possible link to a mail bomb that exploded Tuesday at the San Francisco home of Dr. Charles Epstein, 59, a prominent geneticist at the UC San Francisco.
Epstein, whose research focuses on stroke-induced brain damage, lost several fingers and suffered a broken arm in the blast.
The FBI said the bombings could be related to a dozen other unsolved bombings between 1978 and 1987, some aimed at professors and computer specialists.
FBI Director William S. Sessions, speaking in San Francisco, said the agency would "go back and look at all bombings of a similar nature," including the series of mail bombs--dubbed Unibomb, apparently a shorthand for university bombings.
"I don't think it's illogical for people to suggest that there may be a link," Sessions said. FBI spokesman Rick Smith said "there are certain similar characteristics, relating to forensics as well as targets," that may link the Epstein bombing with Unibomb.
However, Smith said it was too early to determine whether the Yale mail bomb was similar.
In Washington, FBI officials pointed to a 1989 Reader's Digest article titled "Help Find This Mad Bomber." It said that a single bomber had sent or placed 12 devices, killing one man and injuring 21 other people.
The FBI sent a nationwide alert to universities, warning professors to be cautious with their mail and offering suggestions on how to identify suspicious packages. The alert warned about mail marked "Confidential" or "Special Delivery," or packages that bear unfamiliar return addresses or illegible handwriting.
Agents from the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Postal Service, as well as local police, were investigating the Yale bombing.
Police dogs were brought in to sniff for explosives, but they were hampered because fire sprinklers had flooded the heavily damaged office, authorities said.
