Never Forget...
Posted on 10/06/2005 7:09:34 AM PDT by hispanarepublicana
Officer had clue before OU blast
By Randy Ellis and Ty McMahan The Oklahoman
NORMAN - Police here last week missed a chance to investigate a University of Oklahoma student three days before he apparently blew himself up Saturday outside the university’s packed football stadium, The Oklahoman has confirmed.
Joel “Joe” Henry Hinrichs III raised the suspicions of a Norman feed store manager and an off-duty Norman police officer Sept. 28 when he tried to buy the type of fertilizer used in the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building.
The off-duty officer, who just happened to be in the store, was concerned enough about Hinrichs’ demeanor that he jotted down his license tag number and called the police department to check his identity, officials said.
“Normal protocol is for that officer to submit an intelligence report when he comes back on duty,” said Lt. Tom Easley, spokesman for the Norman Police Department. “My understanding is that when the officer did return to work, he did submit one, but that was after the fact.”
The bomb had already gone off.
Hinrichs, 21, is believed to have died in an explosion about 7:30 p.m. Saturday on a campus bench about 100 yards from Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Investigators are treating the death as a suicide. He was a junior engineering major.
Easley declined to release the intelligence report or name the officer who filed it, saying intelligence reports are confidential. A copy of the report was turned over the FBI, he said.
Dustin Ellison, general manager of Ellison Feed & Seed, said Hinrichs came to his store about 4 p.m. Sept. 28 and said he was looking for a particular kind of fertilizer called ammonium nitrate.
“I told him I didn’t have that,” said Ellison, 25.
Ellison said he became suspicious when the young man couldn’t answer the most simple questions, such as how much he wanted or what he planned to do with it.
“I asked if he was trying to green up his yard, and he said, ‘Something like that,’” Ellison said.
Hinrichs was wearing blue jeans, a T-shirt and a light green vest with a number of pockets on each side when he visited the store, Ellison said.
“All the pockets were full,” Ellison said, adding that he saw what appeared to be a wire with headphones attached protruding from one pocket.
“I don’t have any reason to believe it was anything other than that,” he said.
Ellison said Hinrichs was alone and calm throughout his visit.
Hinrichs drove off in a blue Lincoln Towncar, Ellison said.
Ellison said FBI agents came by his store Sunday and he identified Hinrichs from photos.
Easley, the Norman police spokesman, said he is skeptical police could have stopped the bombing, even if they immediately had begun investigating when the officer first called in the license number.
“Seventy-two hours on a piece of intelligence like that, I don’t know what we could have done anyway,” he said.
Officers could have used the tag number to get an address and then checked to see whether it was current, Easley said.
If they could identify a current address, they could have tried to question him, but that doesn’t mean Hinrichs would have had to answer, he said.
Intelligence reports normally are forwarded to the police department’s special operations unit, which categorizes them and decides what to do next, Easley said.
The unit deals mostly with drug investigations, so the information probably would have been forwarded to counter-terrorism officials to evaluate, he said.
Hinrichs’ Towncar remained outside his Norman apartment Wednesday.
The FBI apparently collected 13 plastic bottles, one car title and one insurance form from the car, according to paperwork on the front seat.
There also was a large atlas and several road maps on the front seat.
Cesar Robledo, Hinrichs’ next-door neighbor, said FBI agents questioned him about Hinrichs’ personality and habits, but didn’t ask about his religion or any materials he may have taken into the house.
“We always say, ‘What do they do over there?’ They don’t talk to us, so we don’t know,” said Robledo, 22. “We have no idea what’s on that side of the wall.”
Contributing: Staff Writers Nolan Clay and Jane Cannon
Remember this oldie?
(Midnight, one more night without sleepin')
(Watchin' till the mornin' comes creepin')
(Green door, what's that secret you're keepin?)
There's an old piano And they play it hot behind the green door
Don't know what they're doin' But they laugh a lot behind the green door
Wish they'd let me in So I could find out what's behind the green door
(Knocked once, tried to tell them I'd been there)
(Door slammed, hospitality's thin there)
(Wonder just what's goin' on in there) . . . . .
Thanks, backhoe. You can't think of EVERYTHING!
Don't worry too much. Those air bladders tend to crack and leak after 5-10 years ($500-900) and, if the owner doesn't replace them quickly enough, the air compressor burns out ($300).
Never Forget...
Well, you'd think I'd have thought of that for my own post- but I plumb forgot about it.
Too bad the FBI covered the link to Tim McVey.
Great news, JulieRNR21. Thanks for the heads up.
Peach, can you please use "Norman Bombing" as a common keyword for all threads on this topic? We are using at least this one keyword to track related threads. Thanks a lot.
Ping to a "The Daily Oklahoman" article dated today, 10/06/2005. Thanks to hispanarepublicana for the ping.
Hi there... I mentioned adding this keyword to threads to rte66 on another thread - then discovered you had covered most already! THANK YOU!
Will do, indcons.
If you want on
or off this list
Freepmail me.
Good! It's right under my ping so everyone should see it.
Some people are asking for me to add them to my ping list, but they are really just interested in the bombing...I'm referring them to you.
Thanks.....
bump
BTTT
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