Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
devices, potentially explosive in nature, and begin the journey to their intended tar-
get. Interdiction by law enforcement and interaction by any member at this point is
possible but solely dependent on the level of secrecy the group has attained as well as
the amount of planning and safety methods put in place during the planning process.
In the 1993 World Trade Center attack, the day before the attack, the con-
spirators finalized preparations and loaded a 1000-pound bomb consisting of
urea nitrate into the cargo area of a rented Ryder truck.
This was the same truck that, the night before, Salameh falsely reported to
the police to have been stolen. On the report, he gave the police officers the
wrong license plate number (Reeve, 1999).
At approximately 0400 hours on the day of the attack, the Ryder van was
filled with gas in Jersey City, New Jersey, and then later driven into Manhattan,
New York.
At approximately 0900 hours, Yousef picked up Ismoil at a hotel in mid-
town Manhattan and began to prepare for delivery. Around noon, the van
was parked on Level B-2 of the WTC garage and then abandoned after Yousef
lit the fuses, which took approximately 12 minutes to burn (Reeve, 1999).
Phase IV—Escape and Evasion
Even though members of the first responder community may have missed the initial
three phases and are now handling the aftermath of the attack, there is still a good
chance that capture is possible depending on the ability of the attack members to
escape. The fourth phase of the terrorist attack cycle involves possible escape from
the scene and then overall capture. Not all plans will include an escape plan and
those that do not become much easier to accomplish and prepare for. Oftentimes
the escape plan is more complicated and unpredictable than the attack itself.
Members will first need to escape the scene among multiple members of the first
responder community. Once that is accomplished, they will still need to avoid detection
and capture once the investigation begins. Both of these problems will be compounded
by stress and the unpredictable nature of what is encountered on the route to refuge.
Members of the emergency response community need to be aware of the criti-
cal nature of this phase while still conducting lifesaving or investigative methods
immediately after the incident. A possible victim could be a terrorist and that piece
of debris, a critical piece of evidence. Those in the surrounding areas must also be
aware that although they may not be responding to the actual incident, those that
they may come in contact with who are acting suspiciously could be those involved
in the incident. Given the suicidal nature of many recent attacks, the attack team
members may not escape or be aware of any escape plan. The planners, however, or
those involved in the other aspects of the preparation may.
