Federal agents called by Phelps investigate blast

ATF agents inspect site outside home where blast occurred, meet with police, fire officials.

Officials from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were in Topeka on Wednesday to investigate an explosion Sunday night outside the home of a daughter of the Rev. Fred Phelps Sr.

No injuries were reported in the blast, which occurred at 11:20 p.m. at 3640 S.W. Churchill outside the home of Brent Roper and Shirley Phelps-Roper, who is a daughter of Phelps. The couple’s eight children were home at the time.

A 12-passenger van parked at the residence sustained an estimated $1,000 damage, while a wooden fence had an estimated $150 damage, according to police reports.

The home is adjacent to property belonging to Westboro Baptist Church, 3712 S.W. 12th, where Phelps is the pastor.

After the blast, Phelps called on U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to intervene.

On Wednesday, Phelps said, he did an “end-run around Reno” sending a fax to ATF officials, asking them to investigate.

He said the ATF could redeem itself for its “self-inflicted wound” at the Branch Davidian compound in 1993 near Waco, Texas, by doing a thorough investigation of Sunday’s explosion.

Phelps, who admitted he was surprised by the quick response, said ATF agents from Kansas City, MO., were at S.W. Churchill address about two hours after the fax was sent and stayed for about 90 minutes.

The agents sent debris recovered after the explosion to a laboratory in Washington for analysis, Phelps said.

After the federal agents left, Phelps said the agents met with officials from the Topeka Police Department and the Topeka Fire Department.

Authorities confirmed the meeting took place at police department headquarters, 204 S.W. 5th.

Phelps said the federal agents will return today to examine the church’s data base containing reports of hundreds of threats against the church.

The case continues to be handled locally by the Topeka Fire Department, authorities said. According to state law, the authorities said, fire departments are responsible for post-blast investigations. The police department’s three-man squad of trained bomb technicians is assisting, authorities said.

Phelps and members of his congregation regularly protest against homosexuals. The minister said his church has had 27 incidents of vandalism from “pro-homosexual extremists” over the past four years.

He said Sunday night’s explosion, which shook items from the north upstairs and downstairs walls at the S.W. Churchill address, marked a new level of attacks against his church.

On Tuesday, the church announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the explosion.

Late Wednesday, Phelps said he had received information from two separate callers who pointed to the same individual as being responsible for the blast.

Phelps said he expected to identify the individual today and credited the $5,000 reward as triggering the information.