Bombs found at U of Oklahoma, blast kills one
 

NORMAN, Okla. - One person was killed in an explosion near a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday night in what authorities said appeared to be a suicide.

The blast, in a traffic circle about 100 yards from Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, could be heard by some in the crowd of 84,000, but university President David Boren said no one inside the stadium was ever in danger.

“We are apparently dealing with an individual suicide, which is under full investigation,” Boren said in a statement. There was no information about the person who was killed, and no reports of any other injuries.

A police bomb squad detonated explosives found at the site of the blast. The area near the stadium was searched by bomb-sniffing dogs.

Jaclyn Hull, an OU freshman who left the game shortly before the explosion, said she saw “a little bit of smoke, about as much as you would see coming up from a grill.”

Officers cordoned off an area west of the stadium after the explosion and nobody was allowed out of the stadium for about a half-hour after the blast, which occurred shortly before 8 p.m., about halftime of the Sooners’ game against Kansas State. The game continued.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9557879

For those familiar with OU's campus: the bombing occurred at the south end of the South (Van Vleet) Oval, near the botany-microbiology building. It's a very short walk from there to the west stands of the stadium.

We were at the theatre at the Northwest side of the North Oval at the time the bomb went off. We didn't hear it.

The first word after the performance was that there was a "suicide bombing."

It was pretty obvious upon walking outside that it wasn't -- at least as we have come to understand the word.

It was a suicide using a bomb. A subtle difference in language, but a huge difference in meaning.

While the police sealed off the South Oval, there was no presence on the North Oval at all. Clearly, nobody really considered this incident as a big threat to the campus.

A bomb Haz/Mat disposal unit which was on hand for the O.U. football game (which was in the first half when the bomb went off -- not far from the stadium) reportedly destroyed something else found on the oval, reportedly using a robot -- but it's a little unclear to me whether it was another explosive device or just a suspicious package.

According to the OKC newspapers this morning, the stadium and area around it had been swept by trained K-9 teams before the game, and the K-State team busses were checked out by the dogs before the team embarked after the game. The blast was clearly heard by those in the stadium and police and security were said to have "streamed" out of the stadium. Nobody else was allowed to leave the stadium at halftime and everyone was made to leave through the East gates after the game. Both teams had extra security as they left the stadium.

We drove by the Oval/Stadium after a late, post theatre, dinner last night and there were police and fire units on the scene, but not nearly as many as you have expected.

When we drove by the stadium and the South end of the South Oval today on the way to the airport, the area was still sealed off and there was probably a daytime sweep in progress.

I was sitting in the south end zone part of the stadium. I heard the blast. It reminded me of the Murrah bombing blast.

From what I understand, this guy seems to have intended to enter the stadium.

Didn't hear or read that anywhere. Where did you hear it? That would certainly shed a different light on the situation.

Not sure where I heard it. It certainly does look to be the case as it went off around 100 yards from the stadium and that there was another device.

Reports are that the kid was 'disturbed' to say the least.

The local media (before I left for home yesterday) was kind of hedging on whether there was really another "device" or whether they just found a package of some sort and destroyed it just to be safe -- which is what they tend to do these days.

That's why I wondered.

That may be right also :)

I can't say that I've kept up with it since then. They weren't very informative to those of us watching the game :)

Well, if it will make you feel better, President Boren says none of you in the statdium was ever in any danger.

As if he could possibly know.

Who won?

It turns out that the young man who committed suicide was a National Merit Scholar from Colorado Springs and was described by his former teachers on local news last night as "brilliant," but also a loner, etc. -- all of the things we here about troubled youth.

It was pretty heart-wrenching to see his father, who also seems very bright, interviewed saying that he believes that his son chose a place far enough away from everyone else so nobody but he would be hurt.

Of course we'll likely never know if that's true or not.

Since the deceased was a member of the National Scholars program and from Colorado, our son has had all of the usual questions about if he knew him. He didn't, although they probably were recruited the same year.

True. I've heard rumors (unconfirmed) that the young man attended the same mosque that Moussauwi (sp) the failed 9/11 hijacker attended, and that terrorist propaganda was found in his room.

None of this I've been able to confirm through credible sources -- it seems that law enforcement has been pretty silent thus far except that he did try at one point to purchase some ammonium nitrate (same as what was used in the OKC bombing 10 year ago).

The problem with this story is that the rumors ran rampant immediately -- as you might expect in a "society" such as a college campus.

It'll probably just fade away with little or know comment from the University or other authorities.

Silence is golden.

http://newsok.com/video/1634836/

Disturbing.

It appears that the rumor that the kid attended the same mosque as one Zacharias Mussoui (sp) were true. He made two attempts to enter the stadium during the game. There may have been a conspiracy by his roommates (one a Pakistani) to move things out of the apartment before authorities arrived. There was an airline ticket found for a "future date" to Algeria among Hinrich's belongings.

It certainly looks like a duck to me.

^^^The whole thing was fishy from jump. So you want to kill yourself, but you chose a bomb, the same tactics that suicide bombers use? :rolleyes:

Well, as it turns out, he lied.

But, he was in the Senate, so we could sort of expect that :)

http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.../4344a2c30d701

I find that "News9" website really slow, having tried to use it in the past.

Above is a link to the campus newspaper page which, in turn, has some more links to related stories.

On the paper's home page, there are four links to comments by President Boren and the FBI.

Was it Hank?

-Rudey

Who's Hank?

http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/sh...postid=1106778

-Rudey

Ah...

Thanks for the clarification.

I thought you might have been making a comment about the O.U. President, who is a former U.S. Senator and might have confused him with Hank Brown, a former U.S. Senator who is President of the University of Colorado.

I haven't read any of "your" Hank's stuff. And probably won't.

October 10, 2005 Previous Post
Is Lack Of Big Media Coverage Of Oklahoma Explosion OK?
Has there been more happening at the University of Oklahoma than hazing and all-nighters? The blogosphere, led by Michelle Malkin, has been chronicling the suspicious explosion at the University of Oklahoma just over a week ago, and wondering why the big media doesn’t appear interested.

According to most reports, Joel Hinrichs III was a young man with a history of depression who used a homemade explosive device to commit suicide just 100 yards or so from the school’s football stadium, which was filled with over 80,000 people at the time. Officials were quick to call the incident a suicide, but rumors and reports of Hinrichs’ attempts to buy large quantities of ammonium nitrate and ties to the Muslim community have raised a lot of questions and the answers thus far are not forthcoming.

The Oklahoma Daily, OU’s independent campus paper, lays blame on the FBI today for the confusion:

Remember, the FBI has commandeered this investigation. In doing so and by not telling anyone anything, they are only allowing the events of Oct. 2 to be misinterpreted over and over by people who are firm in believing something that is false and terribly dangerous.

For example, unsubstantiated claims that Hinrichs had been frequenting the Norman mosque have managed to seep onto television news broadcasts even though everyone we have contacted at the mosque says Hinrichs was never seen there.

So who is lying? Inherently, people should perceive the unfounded news broadcasts as the liars, but that doesn’t always happen. And even if only one person sees and believes such a report there or online, word of mouth can transmit that “truth” to hundreds or thousands within a matter of days.

Which is why it is undeniably the duty of the FBI to break its unctuous vow of silence and talk to somebody. The longer the feds delay in doing so, the more they become equally responsible for misinformed social reactions as the hacks who started these rumors in the first place.
Many, Malkin included, have wondered where the MSM is on this story. As the Oklahoma Daily editorial notes, local television has covered it and a quick Google search turns up (sometimes conflicting) reports in local and regional newspapers but no major media outlets appear to have picked up the story yet. We asked CBS News national editor Bill Felling, who told us the network is looking into the story. Let’s hope so, it’s one worth airing, whatever the facts are.

It could also be that a suicidal man who blew himself up is a 3rd or 4th string story behind other national and international new events - Katrina, Rita, Pakistani Earthquake, Iraq, Supreme Court nominations, NOPD investigations, and the NYC Subway scare.

Is it just me, or is that last story really scattered?

First, it asks the question whether "big" media should pay more attention to the story. Then it worries that "rumors" are being reported. Then it takes on the FBI for "commendeering the investigation. Then about mosques. Then it talks about "liars." Then it says the FBI should release more information.

Which point would the story hope to make?

Here's the probable answer as to why the national media hasn't jumped on the story:

Officially, at least at this point, it's a suicide. Generally, media tend to shy away from covering suicides for the sake of the surviving family members involved. If this hadn't happened in such a public place, it might not have been reported at all -- even in local media.

As I said earlier in this thread, we were on campus the night of the bombing. The phrase "suicide bombing" was used. There's a huge difference between a "suicide bombing" and someone committing suicide with a bomb. Had the deceased set off the bomb inside the stadium and taken a bunch of people with him, you can bet the story would get bigger play. As of yet, I've not heard of any hard evidence that he tried to get into the stadium -- only rumors, not hard facts. (Remember that, contrary to what TV tells us, eyewitness accounts are not generally strong evidence because if ten people see an event, you will likely get ten different versions of the story.)

Unless the investigating agencies come up with proof of some kind of conspiracy, not just rumor, inuendo and unproven eyewitness accounts, the national media will continue its lack of coverage.