I don't like this assumption that just because the poor kid was depressed, he decided to blow himself up. It's too bizarre. More importantly, it is an overly convenient explanation that, once accepted, can be re-used in the future. ("Move along sheeple; nothing to see here, he was just depressed...")
Another possibility: (Put on your tin foil hats?)
Mr. Hinrich was framed/coerced.
1. Someone puts a device in his backpack (unknownst to him), or leaves it next to him on the bench & runs away. Or perhaps they strap it to him under threat of force.
2. The posts here assert that Mr. Hinrichs was familiar with guns and was a loner type. Both of these qualities make him a perfect patsy. If I were an evil terrorist mastermind*, I certainly wouldn't pick Miss "I'm scared of guns" Homecoming to do my dirty work.
3. Plus if he were familiar with guns and truly suicidal, wouldn't he use that instead?
4. Mr. Hinrichs' father in his quote (See #3219) sounds much more bewildered than anything else.
5. If may even be possible that Mr. Hinrich, being familiar with weapons, somehow managed to detonate the bomb early to minimize loss of life. For all we know he may be a hero.
6. President Boren says "He has had what I would call emotional difficulties in the past." Now come on FReepers, imagine if Mr. Hinrichs was an outspoken conservative and Boren a typical lefty campus administrator. How likely would he be deemed to "have emotional problems"???
*: Don't worry I am not an evil terrorist mastermind.
I am hesitant to think of Hinrichs as an innocent victim. I do think that if he truly was an angry person ( as some source state earlier) who also (as characterized by his dad) was convinced his life had no meaning and he had a knowledge and fascination with weapons. He would make a very good target for recruitment by a radical group. At this point I am not sure if the radical group would be Islamic or the likes of Aryan Brotherhood, Earth First, Shining Path, or the dozen others on terrorist watch groups.
But I def am not buying. " Gosh I feed all sad and rejected, guess I'll just mosey on down to the stadium with this explosive device attached to my person and let it go off. Yep that will show em".
The one main reason I am not buying Hinrichs as victim is that usually such scenarios ( remember the Pizza guy who was forced to wear a bomb) do include a demand by the person who strapped on the bomb. This is because the psychological horror of knowing that an innocent man is threatened with a horrible death to acheive another'st great evil tends to make people more eager to meet the demands. Unless the authorities are being very mum
( gosh???) there has been no mention of any demands.
PS. Did you know that your tin foil hat can also make a lovely bird feeder? Yep simply crimp the top part into a nice indentation and pour in some sun flower seed. Please watch out for squirrels.