Explosion Kills One Near Stadium

(AP)  One person was killed in an explosion in a traffic circle about 100 yards from a packed football stadium at the University of Oklahoma on Saturday night in what authorities were calling a suicide.

"We are apparently dealing with an individual suicide, which is under full investigation," OU President David Boren said in a statement.

There were no other reports of injuries. There was no word on the identity or sex of the person who died.

The loud noise of the explosion could be heard clearly inside Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where 84,000 people were watching the Oklahoma Sooners play Kansas State.

Officers cordoned off an area west of the stadium after the explosion and nobody was allowed out of the stadium immediately after the blast, which occurred shortly before 8 p.m., about halftime of the game. People were allowed out of the stadium about 8:30 p.m.

A police bomb squad detonated explosives found at the site of the blast. This could also be heard clearly in the stadium area.

The area near the stadium was searched by bomb dogs.

"At no time was anyone in the stadium in danger," Boren said.

Kerry Pettingill, Oklahoma homeland security director, said the incident was under criminal investigation and the motive behind the explosion was not known.

Jaclyn Hull, an OU freshman, said she was leaving the game shortly before the explosion.

"We saw a little bit of smoke, about as much as you would see coming up from a grill," she said.

Stan Hilton of Tulsa said he heard the explosion while he was watching the game from his seat near the field.

"I became afraid at halftime when they had us locked in the stadium," he said after he left the stadium.