Okla. Capitol cleared after safety scare

OKLAHOMA CITY – The offices of Oklahoma’s governor and lieutenant governor were temporarily evacuated Monday after a man wearing a military fatigue jacket threw a briefcase onto a security checkpoint X-ray machine while attempting to bypass Capitol guards.

Capt. Pete Norwood of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the 50-year-old man, John Morgan, did not work in the Capitol but had some business regarding Social Security. Nothing suspicious was found in the briefcase.

When confronted by police and members of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Morgan “quickened his pace and walked into the Capitol. An Oklahoma City police officer tackled him before he actually got to the metal detection post,” Norwood said.

Morgan, of Oklahoma City, was arrested and taken to the Oklahoma County Jail on a complaint of attempting to bypass a security checkpoint, Norwood said.