Posted on 10/03/2005 1:04:49 PM PDT by WestTexasWend
A cache of explosive materials was discovered Sunday night in the apartment of a Wasson High graduate who apparently blew himself up Saturday outside a football stadium packed with 84,000 people at the University of Oklahoma.
Joel Henry Hinrichs III, a 21-year-old junior, was killed when an explosive attached to his body detonated while he sat on a bench across the street from the OU stadium in Norman, Okla., in the second quarter of the Oklahoma-Kansas State game.
The blast was heard throughout the stadium and up to four miles away. No one was allowed out of the stadium for 30 minutes after the explosion, but the game continued.
Sunday afternoon, OU President David Boren said “we are apparently dealing with an individual suicide” and said there was no evidence that Hinrichs planned to harm anyone else. But authorities found numerous explosive materials when they searched his apartment, The Oklahoman newspaper reported in today’s editions.
Police were overheard telling residents of the student apartment complex near the stadium that it would take “several trips and could take up to 24 hours” to remove the material, the newspaper reported.
At their home in north Colorado Springs, Hinrichs’ father and brother searched for their answers Sunday night.
“In hindsight, the handwriting was on the wall,” Joel Hinrichs Jr. said of his youngest son. “He was unhappy in his major (mechanical engineering). He had the energy of a young man, but he didn’t have the optimism.
“He lived his life very privately. He was very bright. He was fascinated with technical information and subjects, but evidently did not pick up much confidence on his passage through childhood. He ran out of confidence last night.”
Tom Hinrichs, 24, said his brother was lonely and frustrated.
“I was surprised a bit by the details, but on the whole I was not surprised,” he said. “He’d always been fascinated with artillery.
“He had real demons that were eating at him, and I told him some things I thought he needed to do, but he had such intense pride it didn’t register to him.”
Joel III, who went by “Joe,” was the youngest of three boys and two girls. His father’s job as a software engineer brought the family to Colorado Springs from Illinois, about six years ago. His parents recently separated, and his mother, Elaine, also lives here.
Hinrichs started in the 10th grade at Wasson, where he graduated in 2002. He was a national merit scholar and debate team member for three years but also battled depression, his father said.
During his freshman year at university, “We encouraged him to seek therapy and he did enter counseling, but I didn’t get the feeling he really trusted it.”
Hinrichs last visited his family this year, when he stopped by for about a half hour while on a road trip, his father said.
As opposed "was killed when he detonated an explosive attached to his body"?
If they're ruling it a suicide, why don't they attribute any blame to him? The explosive didn't do anything wrong, the person who built it and detonated it did.
Sad.
I just transferred out of OU last month after I attempted suicide. College is stressful, especially when you add up other personal events and problems (his parents' divorce, presumably being "stuck" in a major he didn't want to study, depression). Some people find a reason to live; unfortunately, this young man didn't. I just wonder what the hell made him choose this way, which had the possibility of endangering other lives as well.
" “several trips and could take up to 24 hours” to remove the material, "
That's scarey. Must not be too difficult to easily obtain without being noticed.
If I was a 21 yr old junior still in high school, I'd be depressed too.
he was a 21 year-old junior at OU, not high school.
my bad....
my bad....
But he went out with a bang.
I was at the game..scary the more I hear about it.
Sooo sorry, I didn't mean West Texas..I meant Tuba-dude...
Indeed, and that's why I drove myself to the hospital at 0300. Definitely an error I won't make again.
Glad you made it out! People get depressed and do stupid things - also, judging by the detached, clinical tone of his family, I'd say they were relying on "professionals," which is never a good thing, no matter what the professionals tell you. His communication with them was apparently limited to occasional e-mails.
I would suspect he had other things going on in his mind - possibly an admiration for the "baddest" suicide bombers and a desire to go out in a big way, something very common among suicides.
In any case, hang in there and pray and know that lots of Freepers will be praying for you too. All sorts of people you don't even know care about you.
the father and brother really put the finger on him for being a headcase in this article.
the father and brother really put the finger on him for being a headcase in this article.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Or, he could be in a family full of head cases, and their collective weirdness finally pushed him over the edge. Not clear from the story.
So, we knew the kid was depressed and just relied on him to attend counseling with some counselor that we didn't know and hadn't met?
I know it's tricky for parents of adults to intervene, but were this my son, I don't think I could have been as laid back as they seem to be.
Died outside the Oklahoma football game?
I guess he wanted to do it Sooner rather than later.
Every time you think you're at your lowest, think of the love that somebody has for you. Even if you think you're not loved, trust me, somebody thinks you're special.
If you drink, stop. If you do drugs, stop. If you're weak, get up early and just walk around and enjoy the sunrise, enjoy the beauty of the orange, purple and reddish hues. Thank God for giving you this visual gift, then go out and do something that makes you sweat and is difficult. Hard work and not idle time is what a young vigorous person needs. Pretend you're happy, act like a happy person would act and you'll be surprised that sometimes it will just get you out of being blue.
If you need counseling or meds, seek them out and fight the good fight.
Everybody's life has a purpose, I pray that you find yours.
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