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Crime Scene Overview of the Suicide Bombing in Norman, Oklahoma, 7:30pm, Saturday, October 1, 2005
The suicide bombing incident that happened at the University of Oklahoma in Norman on October 1, 2005 has led to a great deal of speculation as to the motives and intent of Joel Henry Hinrichs III, the person who died in the blast.
Law enforcement officials have generally been close-mouthed about their ongoing investigation, and the national media has so far only provided cursory coverage of the incident. As a result, the public has been forced to scrounge for details. The primary sources of information at this point are, on one hand, the local Oklahoma media, which are fairly reliable, and on the other hand two alarmist news services -- Northeast Intelligence Network and WorldNetDaily -- both of which claim to have exclusive details of a possible wider terrorist plot. But there is still no confirmation of these claims, and neither NEIN and WND are seen as entirely trustworthy.
As a result, all the information on this page is derived from news reports in local Oklahoma media, and from independent research, and not from the claims put forth by NEIN or WND, or blog entries based on those claims. (Not that NEIN and WND are necessarily wrong in this case -- I'm just withholding judgment until they have more confirmation.)
This crime scene image, which I created on October 5, is based on details revealed in various reliable media outlets and Web sites. Links documenting each fact are given below.
This image (based on a NAVTEQ satellite image provided by Google Maps) shows the relevent sites related to the bombing that killed Joel Henry Hinrichs III at 7:30pm on Saturday, October 1, 2005. The dotted line traces a possible route taken by Hinrichs that evening.
1. Hinrichs' Apartment. According to THIS ARTICLE in the Oklahoma Daily, Hinrichs lived in the Parkview Apartments, at 606 Stinson. According to YAHOO MAPS, 606 Stinson is near the corner of Sooner Drive, just east of campus. And according to THIS ARTICLE by AP printed in Tulsa World, his roommate was named Fazal M. Cheema, who was (apparently) a member of the Muslim Students Association, since the president of the MSA knew him well.
2. Islamic Society of Norman. According to THIS ARTICLE at NewsOK.com (site may require registration [free]), Cheema attended a "nearby mosque," and the FBI was looking into the possibility that Hinrichs also attended the same mosque. THIS SITE shows that there is only one mosque in the vicinity, The Islamic Society of Norman, which is only three blocks away from Hinrichs' apartment, at 420 E. Lindsey. THIS DIRECTORY shows that 420 E. Lindsey is also the office of the University of Oklahoma chapter of the Muslim Students Association, confirming that this was mosque attended by Cheema and possibly Hinrichs.
3. Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. At the time of the explosion, a football game was being played at the campus stadium, with 80,000 fans in attendance. According to this article at NewsOK.com (again, NewsOK may require registration), "One OU senior, Adam Smith, of Oklahoma City, however, said a stadium guard Saturday night told him 'a guy had sprinted off' outside Gate 6 after refusing to let his backpack be searched." If Hinrichs had walked from his apartment to the blast site, he would have walked right past the stadium. I couldn't find exactly where Gate 6 was, but THIS PAGE shows that Section 6 is on the west side of the stadium, though I don't know if Gate 6 leads to Section 6. In any event, the west side of the stadium is the point closest to the blast site, and if someone "sprinted away" west from the stadium, the first place he would come to is the very place where the explosion happened.
4. Blast Site. According to THIS ARTICLE and THIS ARTICLE in the Oklahoma Daily, the explosion happened on the South Oval of the campus, in front of George Lynn Cross Hall. An official campus map downloadable at THIS PAGE shows the location of George Lynn Cross Hall, immediately to the west of the stadium. Another detailed pdf map of the campus, showing the location of George Lynn Cross Hall and the stadium, can be downloaded HERE.
What does all this information suggest about Hinrichs' movements on the evening of the blast? The map composite above shows each location, and the likely route he took before he died in the explosion.
News is breaking quickly on this case. If you have links to hard information that you think would be useful to add to this page, send them to [email protected].
Until then, here is a selection of other interesting links related to this case:
Breaking link: NewsOK.com: Television report confirms that Hinrichs recently spent much of his time at the Islamic Society of Norman
Tapscott's Copy Desk: Exclusive -- tree at bomb site shows evidence of round shrapnel holes -- possible evidence of a bomb intended to cause harm to others.
channeloklahoma.com: Hinrichs Tried To Buy Ammonium Nitrate.
bellaciao.org: OU President David Boren, who has connections to the intelligence community, is trying to downplay the incident, because of school debts related to the stadium.
Norman Transcript: The explosion was so powerful that it was heard four miles away.
WFAA.com: The stadium was "vibrating" from the force of the blast (link may require free registration).
Associated Press (in 2002): Zacarias Moussaoui, the "20th hijacker" of 9/11, was connected to the Islamic Society of Norman.
Oklahoma Daily (repeat of link above): Hinrichs was vaporized from the waist up by the bomb.
channeloklahoma.com: MSA claims Hinrichs not a member.
Flopping Aces: Good rundown of the known facts.
Overview of news links related to the case.
The following links may be sensationalizing, so take their claims with a grain of salt:
WorldNetDaily: Hinrichs had Islamic jihad materials
Northeast Intelligence Network Hinrichs part of Muslim terror cell in Norman.
Other blogs with interesting coverage:
Fanblogs: Overview of terroristic aspects of the case so far.
The Jawa Report: Commenters have intriguing insights.
AR15.com: If you have the patience to read through the whole thing, this thread has several eyewitness accounts of the blast and details about Hinrichs' activities.
13 Plastic Bottles Found in Hinrichs' Car; Lots of Small, Round Holes Seen in Tree Near Bomb Site
EXCLUSIVE:
A Lincoln Town Car registered in the name of OU Suicide Bomber Joel Henry Hinrichs III remained as of 4:00 p.m. EST today in the parking lot of the apartment where he lived and a U.S. Department of Justice inventory of the contents found by law enforcement officials was visible on the seat, Tapscott's Copy Desk has learned.
Among the items listed on the inventory are "13 plastic bottles" in the trunk. The inventory did not note if there was anything in the bottles, their size or coloration. The blue Lincoln was registered in Oklahoma under Hinrichs' name in June of this year, according to state tag records. The expiration date on the tag was February 2006.
As of 5:57 p.m. EST, a spokesman for the Oklahoma City FBI office had not returned a call seeking information on why the Hinrichs car had apparently not been impounded.
Other items on the inventory include a title, insurance certificate, a 2003 Rand McNally Road Atlas and two other highway maps with undecipherable titles. The car's license tag is Oklahoma VUL014, with a February 2006 expiration date.
Tapscott's Copy Desk has also learned that a tree near where Hinrichs' bomb detonated displays a number of small round holes and some areas of a metallic substance. The holes and substance are only on the side facing the bench on which Hinrichs was seated when the bomb detonated. The holes appear to be about the size of the head of 16 penny nail.
One of Hinrichs' neighbors told Tapscott's Copy Desk today that he believed Hinrichs lived with "three or four Arab guys." The neighbor said he rarely saw Hinrich or his roommates, except when they appeared to be going to and from classes.
The neighbor said all of the residents of the university apartment complex where he and Hinrichs lived are from Nigeria, China and Middle Eastern/Southeast Asian countries.
NATO AIR said:This is very disturbing. We may have had our first Islamic suicide bomber in America. No way he will be the last. And next time, we will not be so lucky to not lose any innocents.
GotZoom said:I would be shocked if anyone from any law enforcement organization in the United States admitted this was a botched suicide bombing attempt.
Talk about panic.
Hinrichs was Known to Law Enforcement Before Oklahoma Football Stadium Suicide Bombing
UPDATED: 10/6/4:08
Norman, Oklahoma, feed store owner Dustin Ellison's Sept. 28 encounter with University of Oklahoma suicide bomber Joel Henry Hinrichs was witnessed by a plain-clothes police officer who happened to be in the store at the time, Tapscott's Copy Desk has learned.
Ellison declined to sell any of the fertilizer, which was a main ingredient used in the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Hinrichs could not explain why he wanted to buy a large amount of the fertilizer. Ellison recorded the license plate number of Hinrichs' car as he drove away.
Ellison said in an interview today that he assumed the Norman police officer who witnessed the encounter would report it to the appropriate authorities, so he did not himself contact the FBI. Ellison was contacted by the FBI on the Sunday after Hinrichs blew himself up within 100 yards of 84,000 fans in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium watching the OU-Kansas State football game.
A Norman Police Department spokesman said he couldn't confirm or deny Ellison's assertion because "the FBI owned that information." Hinrichs had no criminal record at the time of his death.
UPDATE:
Norman Police Department officials have confirmed that - as first reported here - one of its officers witnessed Hinrichs' attempt to buy ammonium nitrate fertilizer Spet. 28 and was sufficiently concerned about the incident that he did a tentative investigation to determine the OU suicide bomber's identity.
ChannelOklahoma.com's Ryan Welton has the details from a news conference in Norman earlier today.
Suicide bomber
Joel Hinrichs
Terrorism
Middle East
War on Terror
Blogging
Blogs
Media
posted by Mark Tapscott @ 10:42 PM
OKLAHOMA BOMBER: DELVING DEEPER
By Michelle Malkin · October 06, 2005 11:11 AM
***update: live Norman, OK police department press conference scheduled for 3pm EDT/2pm CDT...will be carried on channeloklahoma.com...scroll for more updates/reax...***
Blogs continue to cover the Oklahoma suicide bomber story being ignored by the national MSM. Here's the latest:
Zombietime highlights an aerial photo of the crime scene and has an excellent round-up of links.
Mark Tapscott is reporting more new details:
- Hinrichs was Known to Law Enforcement Before Oklahoma Football Stadium Suicide Bombing
- Statement from Last Person to See Hinrichs Alive
Mark's exclusive report from last night on the contents of Hinirichs' car was echoed by local Oklahoma TV station, News 9.
Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit notes that local TV station 9 News OK that Joel Hinrichs had tried to enter the OU game last Saturday night before blowing himself up on a bench outside the stadium.
Hoft points to the The Enid News and Eagle, which has pointed questions for OU president David Boren:
It's clear the FBI, which is in charge of the investigation, is trying to be tight-lipped because they don't have all the answers. They can state they have no direct evidence "at this time" to support any reports Hinrichs was involved with terrorist organizations or he intended to do harm to the fans in the stadium.
They probably are doing the right thing by limiting their comments until they have confirmed answers to all their questions. But, the information that is being ferreted out by the media is starting to paint a disturbing picture. Why would Hinrichs try to buy large quantities of a known explosive material? What was his motive for committing the suicide in such a public and dramatic way? What kinds of associations has he been involved with recently and what were his political views?
We applaud Boren for the attention he has given the matter and his daily briefings regarding the status of the investigation. Yet, we also believe there are more layers to this story than are being publicly disclosed at this time.
Rusty Shackleford is also keeping tabs on the story.
More blog coverage...
The Politburo Diktat
Classical Values here and here
Bill Hobbs
Explicity Ambiguous
Michael Wright at Bella Ciao covers the Boren angle
Tigerhawk
Protein Wisdom
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross at The Counterterrorism Blog:
Perhaps Hinrichs's attendance of the mosque that Moussaoui attended and his attempt to purchase ammonium nitrate have reasonable explanations unrelated to terrorism. (Or perhaps the sources are wrong about this information; one hesitation I have about drawing conclusions in this case is that many of the reported facts are based on fairly sketchy sourcing.) However, there's enough to this story that it deserves more attention. It would be significant if Hinrichs had been motivated by radical Islam.
Karol Sheinin at Alarming News compares MSM vs. blog coverage.
***
Press conference synopsis at Channel Oklahoma.com: Norman PD confirms that it had investigated Hinrichs prior to the bomb explosion that killed him Saturday.
***
Local news sources:
Channel Oklahoma.com
News 9 (Newsok.com)
***
Previous:
Oklahoma bomber: New details
The Oklahoma suicide bomber
Suicide bomber in Oklahoma
Thursday, October 06, 2005
OU Student was 1st Suicide Bomber Since 9-11
** Joel Hinrichs had tried to enter the OU game on Saturday Night! **
The Ox Rant has the videos on the investigation from NewsOK.com.
ZombieTime has an incredible aerial map of the stadium, the blast site, and the apartment.
Joel H. Hinrichs III, the OU student who blew himself up outside of an OU-KSU football game on Saturday night was the first suicide bomber on US soil since 9-11.* The facts all lead in this direction.
So why are we not hearing more about this in the national media? And, can we at least be assured that Homeland Security is notifying officials at other large public venues that this has happened and to be extra vigilant in their security efforts?
The evidence is stacking up and it does not jive with what OU President David Boren has been pushing in the news this past week since a student blew up 100 yards outside an OU-Kansas State Football game. As the Enid News is reporting today, there are more questions than answers, and especially the answers the public is getting from President Boren:
University of Oklahoma President David Boren has made daily statements regarding the status of the investigation, the safety of students, faculty and fans and increased security measures that will be taken in the wake of the incident. He's also stated time and time again it appears there was no terrorist intent from Hinrichs or anyone he might have associated with.
Yet, this week we have learned Hinrichs attempted to buy a large quantity of ammonium nitrate at a local feed store. We have learned he had other explosive materials in his apartment, and we have learned his Muslim roommate and associates were held briefly by law enforcement immediately after the explosion.
It's clear the FBI, which is in charge of the investigation, is trying to be tight-lipped because they don't have all the answers. They can state they have no direct evidence "at this time" to support any reports Hinrichs was involved with terrorist organizations or he intended to do harm to the fans in the stadium.
They probably are doing the right thing by limiting their comments until they have confirmed answers to all their questions. But, the information that is being ferreted out by the media is starting to paint a disturbing picture. Why would Hinrichs try to buy large quantities of a known explosive material? What was his motive for committing the suicide in such a public and dramatic way? What kinds of associations has he been involved with recently and what were his political views?
We applaud Boren for the attention he has given the matter and his daily briefings regarding the status of the investigation. Yet, we also believe there are more layers to this story than are being publicly disclosed at this time.
In other developments OU President Boren has changed his tune some on the bombing incident in his latest press conferences with the media:
The other interesting news is:
1. the Transcript is now saying the explosive was "on or near" Joel Hinrichs, who was killed in the blast, and
2. Boren now says: "I do not say suicide."
Boren earlier was saying that it was just an "individual suicide" while trying exclude the possibility of terrorism. Some, myself included, have voiced the suspicion that Hinrichs intended to kill football fans, but accidentally triggered a detonation before he was able to place himself in their midst. The blast happened five minutes before halftime.
Joel Hinrichs' connection with the local mosque (video HERE) that his roommate attended is not clear. Muslim students are telling authorities and reporters that they are not aware of Hinrichs attending the Masjid Al-Nur Islamic mosque, at 1304 George Avenue.
One question that still remains is where did Joel Hinrichs get his information on bomb making and just how easy is it to get such information?
TATP, or "Mother of Satan" is a volatile explosive that is rarely seen in the US but is often used by Palestinian suicide bombers.
There are reports out now on what the authorities took out of Hinrichs car after the bombing (as Michelle Malkin and Mark Tapscott reported last night):
A Lincoln Town Car registered in the name of OU Suicide Bomber Joel Henry Hinrichs III remained as of 4:00 p.m. EST today in the parking lot of the apartment where he lived and a U.S. Department of Justice inventory of the contents found by law enforcement officials was visible on the seat, Tapscott's Copy Desk has learned.
Among the items listed on the inventory are "13 plastic bottles" in the trunk. The inventory did not note if there was anything in the bottles, their size or coloration. The blue Lincoln was registered in Oklahoma under Hinrichs' name in June of this year, according to state tag records. The expiration date on the tag was February 2006.
But, here is the most damning evidence that this bombing was not a "typical suicide", but that Joel Hinrichs was a suicide bomber. Self-explosion is just not a means of suicide in this country. This morose yet informative list was put together yesterday by reader CRobnson:
I have just spent nearly 3 hours looking for/at suicide methods. Although mortality coding combines firearms and explosives together, I was able to find alot of additional information that gives me the impression that it is the firearm that was the "culprit". Firearms and suffocation were the two most common methods. Next comes poisoning. Here is a list (in no particular order) of methods.
1 Burning oneself (self-immolation)
2 Car "accident"
3 Drowning
4 Electrocution
5 Hanging
6 Jumping
7 Jumping off the stern of a ship
8 Jumping under a train, tram or car
9 Lethal injection
10 Overdosing
11 Plastic bag method
12 Poisoning
13 Seppuku (hari-kiri)
14 Self-decapitation
15 Shooting
16 Slashing throat
17 Slashing wrists
18 Starving to death
19 Stopping breathing
20 Suffocation
21 Suicide by cop
I could not find any information about some poor depressed person anywhere who just decided that he would blow himself up. Turns out, availability is the biggest clincher on what people choose. In this guys case I guess he figured he would have some backup at home in case he only blew part of himself up the first time.
Uh, guess I better drag this half of my body back home and get the other bomb.
You add to this that Hinrichs was trying to purchase ammonium nitrate the week before at a feed store (and that he was wearing a vest with what appeared to be wires hanging out when he asked about the ammonium nitrate purchase), where there are now two witnesses to confess to this, one an off duty police officer. And, regardless of Joel Hinrichs' Muslim connections, he was out on a mission to hurt himself and others.
One other development from the bombing at OU is that many schools are now evaluating their security measures.
As a sidenote, The Oklahoma Daily is telling readers to check the sources on the news they are hearing about this bombing incident. The information on this blog has all been sourced with the links provided.
Previous Posts on the Sooner Bomber:
Bomb Blast at University of Oklahoma!
More Information Emerging on Sooner Bomber
Sooner Bomber Wanted to Buy Ammonium Nitrate!
* I am calling the 9-11 actions suicide bombing because of the fuel-filled planes they were using as flying bombs.
Further:
The Jawa Report has a huge roundup on the story today.
Michelle Malkin is delving deeper into the story today as well.
Tapscott's Copy Desk is saying that Hinrichs was known by the authorities.
Powerline is reporting the news so you know the story is getting out there.
And, a 'Big Roundup' at the Politburo Diktat.
Alarming News has listed down the facts to the story.
World Net Daily has a great article on the bombing.
posted by Gateway Pundit at 10/06/2005 03:52:00 PM
Avatar4321 said:why is this the first im hearing about this?
manu1959 said:panic?.....no clue ....but tell me that it surprises you......morons with plastic strapped to their chest will be SOP here from now on
Avatar4321 said:No panic at all. I am just amazed that the media would fail to give attention to this story even if it wasnt a terrorist attack.
manu1959 said:well......if your tin foil hat is opperating.....bush II is supressing it so the "people" don't panic.....plus it was really a young republican sent to kill the big 10 teams so the ivy league can win a national championship?
ok....the media does not want to take focus off of rove and the scotus sock puppet?
Norman Police Officer Had A Chance Encounter With OU Bomber
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- Norman police confirm that an off-duty officer had a chance encounter with Joel Hinrichs III two days before Hinrichs apparently killed himself in an explosion near the University of Oklahoma football stadium.
But police said Thursday that a conversation the officer overheard at the store doesn't appear to have any connection with the Saturday explosion.
Lieutenant JD Younger says Hinrichs went to Ellison Feed and Seed last Thursday and asked to buy ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the same type used in the Oklahoma City bombing. The store no longer carries the fertilizer.
His actions raised the suspicions of an off-duty officer who happened to be in the store. Younger says the officer wrote down Hinrichs' license tag number and called the police department to check his identity.
Younger says the officer returned to duty Thursday evening and was able to identify Hinrichs and notified the bomb squad. Younger says the officer was to give a written report on Monday, but Hinrichs died on Saturday. He says there's no information that the incidents are connected.
Meanwhile, University of Oklahoma officials say the school didn't sell Joel Hinrichs a football ticket to the game between OU and Kansas State.
OU spokeswoman Catherine Bishop said a review of ticket records determined that Hinrichs didn't buy a football ticket from any university outlet.
Officials say they haven't heard anything to indicate Hinrichs tried to buy a ticket from one of the fans selling tickets outside the stadium, nor have FBI agents found anything on video surveillance tapes to indicate Hinrichs tried to enter the stadium.
Thursday night OU President David Boren released a letter to OU students, faculty and staff that commended most of the media and Oklahomans for responding responsibly to the incident. But Boren added that there have been others who haven't done so.
Muslim students said Thursday that they feared for their safety and the university stepped in to protect them as rumors spread of a terrorist plot behind the explosion.
Houda Elyazgi of the Muslim Student Association says a lot of Muslim students are taking precautions and are staying at home.
