Article from Norman Transcript
Person killed following explosion at OU: Officials believe incident was suicide By James S. Tyree (Transcript Staff Writer)
An apparent suicide bombing on the University of Oklahoma campus Saturday evening killed at least one person.
According to a statement from OU President David Boren, a second explosive device was found and detonated. Initial reports had that occurring about 9:15 p.m.
The blast happened shortly after 7:30 p.m. on the South Oval, across the street from the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where more than 80,000 people were watching the OU-Kansas State football game. One person who responded to the scene said she heard the blast from four miles away.
We are apparently dealing with an individual suicide which is under full investigation, Boren said in the statement. At no time was anyone in the stadium in danger. Law enforcement officers and bomb experts on site were activated in the area immediately.
Boren said he ordered a search of the garage area near the stadium along with lower levels outside the stadium.
The entire South Oval was taped off, and many law enforcement officers were there to make sure no one entered the area. The suicide happened in or near the George Lynn Cross botany/microbiology building the oval's east side.
Damage to the microbiology building or any other structure couldn't be seen from the distant perimeter.
Sgt. Gary Robinson of OUPD confirmed one death, but gave no further details on the person or whether anyone else was injured. He said detectives were unable to investigate the scene right away because other personnel needed time to thoroughly sweep the area for additional explosive devices.
One fatality is all we know right now, he said.
Student Keaton Fuchs of the cable television station TV4OU had a video camera at the stadium's highest level. He turned toward the South Oval right after the explosion and saw a small amount of gray smoke rising from the botany/microbiology building.
Numerous public agencies were on the scene, including OU and Norman police, Cleveland County Sheriff's Office, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, state medical examiner's office, the FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Passouts normally are given to people who want to leave at halftime and come back, but they were not issued Saturday. Fans never were permitted to go on or near the South Oval, and after the game, which OU won 43-21, pedestrians weren't allowed to walk north on Asp Avenue beyond the stadium's southwest corner.
Six members of the Brothers Under Christ fraternity dressed in white T-shirts, each with a red spray-painted Superman and white capes couldn't walk a few dozen feet beyond the barriers to retrieve their bicycles at the stadium.
They decided to walk a mile back home and get their bikes today.
We heard so many rumors about this in the stadium said Preston White, a BUC sophomore from Tulsa majoring in chemical engineering. At first we thought it was thunder, then we heard propane and suicide bombing, just all sorts of rumors.