The Human Bomb

The Human Bomb is the title of an episode of the true crime radio drama Calling All Cars from December 20th 1933. A masked man carrying a box full of dynamite forces his way into the office of the Chief of Police and threatens to blow up City Hall unless the owner of a local railroad is brought to the office to promise to raise wages for his employees. The bomb is so arranged that the bomber's hand is holding a detonator inside the box which will set off the bomb if released. The bomber is depicted as a deranged German named Karl (or Carl) Weiss.

The Human Bomb is also the title of a short film made in 1939 by a production company in Astoria, Queens, New York as part of a series called Your True Adventures. In this version the bomber demands $200,000 from the director of a streetcar company.

The seventh episode of the Dragnet radio drama, aired July 21 1949, seems to be untitled but is generally known as Attempted City Hall Bombing. In this extremely tense version, the bomber (ably played by Parley Baer) is named Vernon Carney, and his incoherent demand is for his brother to be released from jail.

Jack Webb liked the story enough to use it as the pilot for the television version of Dragnet, titled The Human Bomb and originally aired as an episode of Chesterfield Sound-off Time, Hosted by Bob Hope, on December 16, 1951. In this version the name and motivation of the bomber are the same as the radio episode.

Who was the original Human Bomb, and where did his bombing attempt take place?