Local News

OU Student From Colorado Is Bomber, Killed Self

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) ― A University of Oklahoma student with "emotional difficulties" was identified Sunday as the person who was killed when an explosive attached to his body detonated near a packed football stadium, authorities said.

The body is believed to be that of Joel Henry Hinrichs III, 21, Salvador Hernandez, Special Agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma, said in a news release.

"We know that he has had what I would call emotional difficulties in the past. And as I said, this is an individual death. There is certainly no evidence at this point which points to any other kind of motivation other than his personal problems," OU President David Boren told reporters Sunday afternoon.

Boren declined to say where Hinrichs was from, but a student telephone book lists a permanent address in Colorado Springs, Colo. He said he didn't know whether a suicide note had been found.

Hinrichs' father, Joel Henry Hinrichs Jr., said he was very surprised to hear the news about his son.

"We exchanged e-mails on an irregular basis, several in the last month, and nothing seemed out the ordinary," the father told The Associated Press.

His son was a National Merit Scholar who graduated in May 2002 from Wasson High School in Colorado Springs and began attending OU in the fall of that year with a major in mechanical engineering.

"He was a very intelligent, very private individual who somehow lost the confidence that his life would be a good one," the elder Hinrichs said. "Obviously, every parent believes their son is a good kid, and I certainly believed that about mine."

Joel Henry Hinrichs Jr. said he had not figured out whether he would travel to Norman.

Besides his parents, Hinrichs is survived by four siblings. His parents are going through a divorce, his father said.

Hinrichs was a member of the University of Oklahoma Chapter of Triangle Fraternity, a student organization of engineers, architects and scientists that promotes personal growth and professional development.

"We have no idea what happened and are as stunned as anyone else on campus," the group said in a statement. We are cooperating fully with the authorities in every way possible to allow them to uncover what happened to Joe."

Authorities haven't identified what kind of explosive device was used. Boren initially said a second explosive device was detonated by a bomb squad Saturday night, but later said no other devices had been discovered.

Authorities used a "mild explosive device" to detonate a backpack found near the explosion, but it did not contain explosive materials, Boren said.

The explosion occurred around 8 p.m. Saturday while Hinrichs sat on a bench outside George Lynn Cross Hall, officials said.

Authorities cordoned off the area west of the stadium and no one was allowed to leave the facility immediately after the blast for security reasons. Spectators were allowed to go outside about 30 minutes later.

There were no other reports of injuries and Boren said spectators were never in danger.

Other than some broken windows, the building sustained minor damage, Boren said. The area remained taped off Sunday as fire crews hosed down nearby sidewalks and three buses that were parked in front of the building.

Boren said he expected the area to be opened on Monday and classes would be unaffected. Counseling will be made available to those who desire it, he said.

"My greatest concern was to make sure that all of our students were safe and that there is no ongoing threat to our students at the university, so that we could continue our classes as usual," Boren said.

The game, which was in the second quarter at the time of the explosion, went on without interruption and no announcement was made until the final minutes of the game. At that point, spectators were only informed to avoid the traffic circle where the explosion occurred, but were not told why.

"We wanted to make sure that people were not surprised as they came out, but we didn't want to make the announcement too early because we didn't want to cause any kind of panic within the stadium because it was fully under control at that time and we were most worried about what would happen if people left the stadium," Boren said.

Meanwhile, law enforcement officers early Sunday evacuated part of the student apartment complex where Hinrichs stayed. About 40 people were told to leave and not to return for at least a day, Boren told reporters.

City officials informed other nearby residents to evacuate, Boren said.

"Obviously we're not going to let them come back into the area unless we know it's safe, and we can't have people going back into the area if it might interfere with the investigation," he said. "They're going through everything with a fine-tooth comb."

Television news footage showed investigators retrieving items from a trash bin at the complex, which is located a couple of blocks east of the stadium.

Bomb squad members detonated more items Sunday night in connection with the case, but the explosions were "all planned and carefully orchestrated and posed no danger to the public," Agent Gary Johnson, an FBI spokesman, said.

Investigators have no information to suggest there is any additional threat posed by others related to the explosion, Hernandez said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, OU police, Norman police and the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office also are investigating the incident.

(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)