Posted on 10/02/2005 9:13:39 PM PDT by WestTexasWend
NORMAN - Local and federal law officers worked Sunday to remove what was described as a cache of explosive material from the apartment of a man who died in a bombing the night before.
Joel Henry Hinrichs III, 21, a junior from Colorado Springs, Colo., died in the explosion, FBI officials said.
Investigators believe Hinrichs detonated a bomb about 8 p.m. Saturday, just 100 yards away from a packed football stadium.
Officials confirmed Sunday a cache of explosive material later was found inside Hinrichs’ residence at the university- owned Parkview Apartments, southeast of Lindsey Street and Stinson Avenue.
The FBI, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents and Norman police’s bomb squad were removing the material Sunday evening.
Police were overheard telling residents it would take “several trips and could take up to 24 hours” to remove it all.
Four buildings at Parkview Apartments, including the building where Hinrichs lived, were cordoned off with police tape.
Mike McMahon, who lives across the street from Hinrichs’ building, said he was on his porch at 3 a.m. Sunday “when they (police) started moving in.”
“That’s when the (yellow crime scene) tape went up,” McMahon said.
Whitney Pearson said she woke at 9 a.m. to find police blocking access to George Street where she lives. Across the street, she could see crime scene tape snaking around buildings at Parkview Apartments.
“I talked to police, and they told me I would be safe as long as I stayed on my side of the tape,” Pearson said.
OU and Norman police officers were posted at intersections to keep people away from the taped-off area. FBI and ATFE agents could be seen moving in and out of the buildings most of the day.
A canister trailer used for detonating or transporting potentially explosive material was being used to haul items away.
They started removing items after 7 p.m.
On Sunday, Boren said reports about authorities finding an unexploded bomb Saturday night were false.
Investigators did set off a second explosion, but it involved a suspicious object located near the blast site that did not contain a bomb, Boren said.
Law enforcement acted quickly and efficiently responding to the emergency, Boren said.
“Student safety is our number one concern,” Boren said.
FBI investigators packaged and removed the bench where the bomber was seated when the explosives went off.
A scorched patch marred the sidewalk where the bench had been removed.
Crime scene tape blocking access to the South Oval was removed by Sunday afternoon. Tape was repositioned around a bus and limousine parked on the oval in front of George Lynn Cross Hall, OU’s botany-microbiology building, prior to Saturday night’s game. Blood spattered the lower length of the bus.
No other damage to the area, including the microbiology building, was apparent.
Officials said Hinrichs’ motive for blowing himself up Saturday near the Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium during the second quarter of OU’s game against Kansas State remains under investigation.
OU President David Boren said Hinrichs was a student “who had very, serious personal problems that led to this tragic death.”
Because of what happened, Boren said, the FBI had taken over the investigation.
Boren said the student had explosives strapped to his body.
Investigators would not say whether they believe Hinrichs intended to go inside the stadium before the detonation happened.
"We are dealing with an individual death caused by an explosive device,” Boren said. “There is no continuing threat to the students at OU.”
Boren said OU classes would be held as usual Oct. 3.
Notified of his son’s death Sunday, Hinrichs’ father said he was still processing what happened and did not trust himself to say much.
“I don’t want him defined by whatever limitations led him to this,” said Joel H. Hinrichs Jr. of Colorado Springs. “He was quite introverted. He was a very quiet, introverted, intelligent young man. I can’t approximate what led him to make such a final decision.”
Hinrichs Jr., who broke down in tears during a brief phone interview with The Oklahoman, said he plans to have his son’s remains cremated and the ashes sent back to Colorado.
Which is your local ABC affiliate--are you in OKC?
It's channel 5 here. KOCO-TV.
Sorry for the delay.
It is the eyes ... they are void, hard. It is not about hair or beards, IMO.
I doubt your grandson keeps jihadi materials by the bed or creates a bomb to commit "suicide".
Sometimes he looks like Abe Lincoln, sometimes he looks like a Johnny Jihadist, and other times he looks like the tv character, the teenage genius doctor Dr Doubbie something.
I wouldn't say completely implausible. Considering Oklahoma seems to be a target one way or another; that McVeigh could be influenced by Islamists without any apparent "connection" (other than what was hidden by the Rats at the time), it seems quite plausible to me that Islamic students would seek out and target the less, um, sociable to do their dirty work for them. Plus demand silence of any relationship. Brainwashing IS a specialty of terrorists, after all.
Is that too tin-foil?
He had Muslim extremist propaganda in his apartment? Where did you read that?
I was thinking Abe Lincoln- but take that Big photo and morph them together, and voila- that's our boy!
What is it with the Feds in the OKC area anyway? There's more going on around there than meets the eye. It's enough to make a sane person put on the tinfoil hat.
If Danny Defenbaugh is involved, (Dallas FBI office during the OKC bombing), you can be sure that the truth is being hidden.
Okay, time to send in the troops. This case is obviously getting swept under the rug by everyone involved. If you haven't heard about this incident, there was a suicide outside the OU stadium during a football game this last Sat. night. According to some eyewitnesses, one of which is a Freeper, (phikapmom) there is much more to this story than the official version. Perhaps a larger plot involving the local Muslims around the campus?
Okay, time to send in the troops. This case is obviously getting swept under the rug by everyone involved. If you haven't heard about this incident, there was a suicide outside the OU stadium during a football game this last Sat. night. According to some eyewitnesses, one of which is a Freeper, (phikapmom) there is much more to this story than the official version. Perhaps a larger plot involving the local Muslims around the campus?
Those eyes give me the creeps -- I agree!
Even our local media is talking about the whole story not coming out because they cannot get anyone officially to go on the record. This is strange beyond belief.
"Even our local media is talking about the whole story not coming out because they cannot get anyone officially to go on the record. This is strange beyond belief."
Not really. Ask any parent who has had a daughter attacked, raped, mugged or worse at a big university. The President, deans and campus police will block any normal investigation and often will try to make the parents look bad if they push for an investigation.
If several hundred parents pulled their child out of OU due to possible danger of being blown up, the $ loss impact would be very high.
Just think of the original Jaws movie and how the mayor and the city leaders ignored the great White Shark. The same mindset is in action here.
I kept thinking of that plane that crashed in Queens a few years back.
Not terrorist related, move along, nothing to see here...
Maybe, maybe not. After the lies and propaganda of the 90's with regard to public disaters, (Waco, Elian Gonzalez, TWA 800, OKC, etc.) the track record of trust is pretty dismal.
Why would a guy with a room full of explosives blow himself up without taking the opportunity to utilize all his other stuff? Did he acquire stuff just to abandon it? I think the plan was bigger, but something went terribly wrong (or right if his plan was to kill others).
That is a reasonable assessment if he had additional stocks in his apartment. If such is the case, maybe he wasn't intent on suicide, but more on detonating from a distance, and repeating the process over and over.
I must admit, the more recent picture, along with the few additional pieces of local info today, changed my opinion.
A sister of one of longest time wise friend and SIL for his wife was on that plane. She left a daughter, husband, mother and 3 brothers besides a lot of friends and cousins.
We don't talk about it around them. MTSB was loaded with the Clintoonites at that time. It would have been really easy for a Jihadist to have stored something when that plane was worked on in Dallas (I believe).
However, on this case, the way Boron is acting is how most big university presidents respond. This time we might have have the dark hand of Jihadists in America helping the student who killed himself.
With the FBI in the case, we might get the truth.
I know and remember that George Tenet is a protege of David Boren so we cannot have any terrorist here. The media around here is not happy and digging deeper and deeper. Something will break.
Am having a hard time deciding if this has a lid on it to find other suspects (possibility) or to cover up. Not sure which right now but am sure we don't have all the facts.
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