That's what we needed " someone to make a bomb threat at the downtown OKC federal building.
According to Gary Johnson, the Oklahoma City spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a guy made the threat at the new federal building, which lies not far from the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, destroyed in 1995 by a truck bomb.
The FBI said the guy walked in with a backpack and was stopped by security, who told him he'd have to go through a checkpoint. At that, the man handed two notes to the guards that said something to the effect that he had bombs in his backpack and in his car parked out front. The man then ran from the building, according to that account.
A few minutes later, a nearby business called in and reported a "suspicious individual." Police were ready, according to the FBI's release.
"Officers responded and took the individual into custody. The investigation determined this person, Roderick Robinson, was the same person who left the backpack and notes at the Federal Building," the FBI's release stated.
Things went full-tilt boogie from there. Several blocks around the area were on lockdown, people were jittery, and folks who'd left their cars parked near the area couldn't get them back, according to the FBI. Bomb technicians from Oklahoma City Police Department, Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office and the FBI started combing through the guy's stuff. It took hours.
The man in question, as it turns out, was convicted in 1998 of similar infractions. Court and prison records show the man was convicted of charges related to phoning in bomb threats along with attempting to elude police officers and concealing stolen property, among other crimes.
In the end, it appears neither the car nor the backpack had bombs in them, authorities reported. But, we can't imagine all those people near the site where 168 got killed by a bomb in a vehicle can't have appreciated this very much. The Feds sure don't. Robinson was charged Jan. 22 for making a bomb threat.
At CFN, we just have to file this with the head-shaking news.
