(See my updated post here.)
News websites and blogs were buzzing this weekend about the University of Oklahoma student who committed suicide by detonating a bomb located (presumably) in his backpack, during Saturday's OU football game at Memorial stadium.
It turns out that the perpetrator was a depressed engineering student named Joel Henry Hinrichs III. He was a National Merit Scholar, but he was despondent and increasingly hopeless. According to an interview given by his father, his hopelessness increased in such small increments that no one in his family understood how far he had slipped. Until Saturday, that is.
He detonated his bomb while sitting on a park bench on the campus's South Oval, which was close to the football stadium but not close enough to harm others. No one was injured in the blast, and apparently no one was near enough to Hinrichs to witness the explosion.
There was no second device found at the scene. Law enforcement officials located the remnants of the backpack, which they believe held the bomb, and detonated the remnants with their own explosives as a precaution against any unexploded material that may have remained in the backpack.
I had my doubts about a terror connection when news reports made it clear that no one else was injured, and gave no indication that the bomb contained any shrapnel or other materials such as nails, screws, and ball bearings, which terrorist suicide bombers always pack into their deadly devices.
But we have a right to be concerned about terrorism here in Oklahoma, at least for the following reasons:
- The questions that remain about "John Doe No. 2," who was connected with the 1995 Murrah building bombing, and who may have been an Iraqi
- The fact that Zacharias Moussaoui, the "20th bomber" in the 9/11 attacks, attended a flight school in Norman, OK, home of the University of Oklahoma
- The fact that a passenger was stopped this summer at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City because he was carrying a pipe bomb in his luggage
- The fact that an alert was issued at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Oklahoma (just outside Oklahoma City) because three men were spotted outside the perimeter of the base with what appeared to be a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile.
We'll be keeping our eyes open ...
Visit the OU Daily for the latest updates on this story.
Kevin Aylward at WizBang is linking to a story from Northeast Intelligence Network which reports that additional explosives and jihadi literature, some in Arabic, were found in Hinrich's apartment. Considering that he probably made his bomb in his apartment, the discovery of additional explosives or the reagents necessary to make the explosive should be taken as a given. The existence of "jihadi" literature, however, is still highly speculative.
As of this writing, there have been no reports in local media that corroborate the "jihadi literature" claims.
UPDATE: It's official - News Channel 4 sucks -- at least their website, anyway. Still nothing new about Hinrichs since Monday on their website. Tonight, Channel 5 reported that a man fitting Hinrich's description visited a Norman feed store in the days prior to his suicide and inquired about purchasing ammonium nitrate. Their reporting also confirms Northeast Intelligence Network's report that the explosive used was TATP. It's easy to make TATP from common household chemicals, and it is widely used by Muslim suicide bombers, probably because of the ease with which it can be made. However, it is also highly unstable.
UPDATE 2, 10/5/05: Michelle Malkin is linking to a report by Channel 9 news that confirms Channel 5's report of a man (presumably Hinrichs) attempting to purchase ammonium nitrate four days before his death. The Channel 9 report also mentions that Hinrichs attended the OU campus mosque earlier this year. Certainly an important piece in this bizarre puzzle, and a fact (hopefully) unknown to his family -- otherwise, they are going to have a lotta 'splainin' to do.
Channel 9 also links to the official FBI statement (PDF) released yesterday which states that Hinrichs had no known ties to extremist or terrorist organizations or activities.
Some have questioned OU President (and former Oklahoma senator) David Boren's remarks made soon after last Saturday's explosion. Boren's comments did not indicate, to me, that he had any specific prior knowledge about Hinrichs. Statements like "a very bright student," "obviously had very serious personal problems," and "no ongoing threat to the students at our university" seem more like things that a school official would say in order to settle unrest and absolve the school from any official responsibility.
For the record, I also grew a moustache-less beard when I was in college. So I don't consider Hinrich's beard to be "proof" that he had converted to Islam. However, as the story unfolds it seems to be pointing more in that direction.
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