Douglas Co. investigates BOLO in Boston Marathon case

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — The Douglas County Sherriff's Office says a local "be on the lookout" call for someone in relation to the Boston Marathon bombing may seem like a big deal, but similar calls have likely gone out all over the country.

Overnight, Channel 2 Action News overheard scanner traffic for a BOLO for a vehicle registered in Douglas County. The dispatcher said, "Says he is wanted for questioning with the bombing."

"These kinds of leads are going out all over the country, probably thousands at a time," Douglas County Sheriff's Office Sgt. John Sweat said.

Sweat said the BOLO was related to comments a man in a vehicle supposedly made at a Burger King. The comments generated a federal request to the Sheriff's Office to check the man's house.

Maj. Tommy Wheeler said Wednesday afternoon a joint terrorism task force agent left a message at the Sheriff's Office indicating that the situation did not pan out.

"We would much rather get a hundred reports that did not turn out to be useful then to miss the one report that does turn out to be useful," Wheeler said.

GBI agent Scott Dutton told Channel 2's Mark Winne that the state's clearinghouse for terrorism intelligence gathering, the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center, has seen an increased volume of tips from the public and local law enforcement.

GISAC is located in the same building as the FBI's Atlanta field office -- a place where agents dealt with Centennial Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph, who set off a bomb during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, killing two people and injuring more than 100.

Retired FBI agent James Cross said as one of the Rudolph case supervisors , he empathizes with the Boston bombing agents facing a huge responsibility.

"They'll be covering leads all over the world. Wherever the evidence leads them to, they'll go," Cross said.

WSBTV