Sniper Attacks FBI

ATLANTA: Somebody's been watching "First Blood." A sniper's bullet passed through the hair of an FBI agent at the bureau's Andrews, N.C., command post Wednesday night. The agent was unharmed, but the attack may be the latest sign of local disdain for the bureau's nine-month manhunt for alleged Olympic and abortion-clinic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. The "First Blood" association may be tempting -- in the movie, John Rambo takes the fight to his pursuers -- but law enforcement officials believe the assailant could just as easily have been a local youth. "There's a lot of dislike for the FBI down there," says TIME Atlanta bureau chief Sylvester Monroe. "Even if people don't help Rudolph, they're not inclined to help the FBI."

With little cooperation from locals, the bureau is once again beefing up its patrols in the dense mountain forests. "They're hoping that with fall clearing some of the foliage they'll have a better chance of spotting him," says Monroe. "But remember, when Rudolph first went on the run at the end of January, there wasn't much foliage at all." And Wednesday's shooting won't do much for their morale.