Posted on 03/01/2006 3:35:38 PM PST by Shermy
NORMAN, Okla. -- A University of Oklahoma student who blew himself up outside a packed Gaylord Family/Oklahoma Memorial Stadium probably didn't commit suicide, a Norman police bomb expert said.
"I believe he accidentally blew himself up," Sgt. George Mauldin said Tuesday of Joel Henry Hinrichs III, a 21-year-old engineering student who died in the explosion Oct. 1.
When asked if he believed Hinrichs meant to enter the stadium with the explosives, Mauldin said, "I don't believe he intended for an explosion to occur at that spot (on a nearby park bench)."
Hinrichs, of Colorado Springs, Colo., had two to three pounds of triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, in a backpack on his lap when it exploded about 173 yards from the stadium during the second quarter of the Oklahoma-Kansas State football game, Mauldin said.
"Someone saw him fiddling with it (the backpack) shortly before the explosion occurred. I think he got cocky, and it went off," Mauldin said.
Mauldin and Police Chief Phil Cotten briefed Norman City Council members about the explosion and the department's investigation in a conference before Tuesday night's meeting.
The FBI has said its investigation didn't find any links between Hinrichs and terrorist organizations. Agents have said they may never know whether the student wanted to get inside the stadium.
The student's father, Joel Hinrichs Jr., has said his son intended to kill only himself.
Mauldin, head of the Norman bomb unit, said investigators detonated at the scene the remains of Hinrichs' backpack, which contained wires, a battery and a circuit board.
Graphic photos showed that Hinrichs was decapitated and his headless body was still upright on the park bench next to the backpack.
Investigators also found more TATP, components to make the substance, a fuse and live military rounds at Hinrichs' off-campus apartment.
"We found evidence of him compressing TATP, which is foolhardy, given its properties," the officer said.
Making TATP is a seven-step process, with the substance becoming explosive after three steps, he said.
Bomb squad officers were careful while removing the material from Hinrichs' apartment for fear it would explode, Mauldin said.
"And we wanted to get it out of there quickly. The longer TATP sits, the more likely (it is) to explode spontaneously," he said.
Officers also removed metal fragments that are often to explosives to make them more deadly, Mauldin said.
Hinrichs also kept careful notes of experimentation with explosives in the weeks leading up to blast, officials said.
Most of Hinrichs' experiments occurred at Red Rock Canyon in Caddo County, according to the notes.
That is one accident that saved lives.
Right. And islam is the Religion of Peace.
Sorry, story posted earlier with different headline words.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1587763/posts
Close and link to prior thread?
Well, that certainly explains why he went to a location where 100,000 people were gathered.
Geesh. I thought this kind of stuff was only possible in the cartoons.
Ping - Joel Hinrichs III determined to have blown himself up accidentally, and not in the location he intended.
They can spin it anyway they want but IMO this scumbag was planning to ake a whole bunch of people with him or plant the explosives and leave the area.
In the immortal words of Dr. Peter Venkman, "I'd call that a big YES."
"Investigators also found more TATP, components to make the substance, a fuse and live military rounds at Hinrichs' off-campus apartment."
No wonder his Paki roommate had tickets to leave the country for the following day.
Actually, that link goes to a different story from a different source, although much in the two articles are similar.
""The FBI has said its investigation didn't find any links between Hinrichs and terrorist organizations. Agents have said they may never know whether the student wanted to get inside the stadium.""
Um, did he have a ticket?
Big crowds around to exit the stadium after the game. That may be the time he was going to explode the bomb, suicide style or by some other fashion.
"Terrorist organizations". How about LE telling us what organizations he belonged to, and we can decide on their description.
Seems to me that they want to keep spinning this one. It won't work with me!
People who were there saw him trying to get in, and being refused. No, he did not have a ticket.
He was seen visiting the local Muslim Association/Mosque--same one Mossouie (well, I'm sure it's spelled wrong, but the so-called 20th hijacker) attended.
Good link at #10.
Remember the roomates? They didn't notice the smell? Boren cover-up?
"Officers also removed metal fragments that are often to explosives to make them more deadly, Mauldin said."
I'm assuming "attached" should be inserted into this poorly written statement in between "often" and "to".
If so, the attachment of fragmentation material would tend to indicate sinister motive....But what do we know?
"If you read between the lines, I don't think Mauldin quite believes the story himself."
They're still being extraordinarily vague with their language, that's for sure. Accidental? Only in the sense that the TATP went off before he got inside the stadium.
The FBI just wanted to keep a lid on this. Hinrichs didn't walk seven blocks with a backpack stuffed with TATP in order to commit suicide. And there was a report that he tried to get inside the stadium at one of the gates.
My take is, he was waiting for the crowd to start coming out of the stadium, and had a work-related accident. People need to wake up and stop making excuses.
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