Published: October 03, 2005 12:15 am            

Blast investigation moves to Parkview Apartments

Officials believe incident was suicide

By James S. Tyree

Transcript Staff Writer

The investigation into an apparent suicide bombing on the University of Oklahoma campus Saturday evening moved to the nearby Parkview Apartment complex early today.

Law enforcement authorities evacuated about 35 residents of the university-owned complex this morning. The apartments are south of the Brandt Park Duck Pond on Lindsey Street and about half a mile from the blast site.

The blast happened shortly after 7:30 p.m. on the South Oval, across the street from the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where more than 80,000 people were watching the OU-Kansas State football game. One person who responded to the scene said she heard the blast from four miles away.

"We are apparently dealing with an individual suicide which is under full investigation," OU President David L. Boren said in a statement. "At no time was anyone in the stadium in danger. Law enforcement officers and bomb experts on site were activated in the area immediately."

OU officials on Sunday clarified that no second bomb was found. Boren visited with those displaced from the apartments. They were moved to a more comfortable area, officials said.

Officials established a crime scene and quickly put police tape from Asp Avenue west to the western edge of the Van Vleet Oval, between Brooks Street and Lindsey Avenue.

Early Sunday, Norman police, OU police, FBI and other federal agents were combing the scene.

On Saturday, Boren said he ordered a search of the garage area near the stadium along with lower levels outside the stadium.

The suicide happened in or near the George Lynn Cross botany/microbiology building the oval's east side.

Damage to the microbiology building or any other structure couldn't be seen from the distant perimeter.

Sgt. Gary Robinson of OUPD confirmed one death, but gave no further details on the person or whether anyone else was injured. He said detectives were unable to investigate the scene right away because other personnel needed time to thoroughly sweep the area for additional explosive devices.

"One fatality is all we know right now," he said.

Student Keaton Fuchs of the cable television station TV4OU had a video camera at the stadium's highest level. He turned toward the South Oval right after the explosion and saw a small amount of gray smoke rising from the botany/microbiology building.

Passouts normally are given to people who want to leave at halftime and come back, but they were not issued Saturday. Fans never were permitted to go on or near the South Oval, and after the game, which OU won 43-21, pedestrians weren't allowed to walk north on Asp Avenue beyond the stadium's southwest corner.

Six members of the Brothers Under Christ fraternity dressed in white T-shirts, each with a red spray-painted Superman "S" and white capes couldn't walk a few dozen feet beyond the barriers to retrieve their bicycles at the stadium.

They decided to walk a mile back home and get their bikes today.

"We heard so many rumors about this in the stadium," said Preston White, a Tulsa sophomore majoring in chemical engineering. "At first we thought it was thunder, then we heard propane and suicide bombing, just all sorts of rumors.

James S. Tyree 366-3539 jtyree@normantranscript.com

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.