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January 1, 2009

Body found at Kennedy playground

Man appeared to have gunshot wound to head

By Julianna Parker

A man with a gunshot wound to his head was found at the playground at Kennedy Elementary School Wednesday.

A citizen called police at about 12:30 p.m. reporting an apparently unconscious man on the playground at 621 Sunrise St., Norman Police Detective John Stege said Wednesday afternoon. EMS and police arrived to find David Hopp, 68, of Norman, lying on the ground between the slide and the painted map of the United States, he said.

"It appeared he had a gunshot wound to the head," Stege said.

Hopp was transported by EMSStat to Norman Regional Hospital where he was pronounced dead, he said.

There were no other persons involved in the incident, according to a press release from the police department sent out Wednesday evening. No foul play is suspected, and the incident remains under investigation by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Norman Police Department.

School was out for the winter break Wednesday, so Kennedy was mostly empty. The only people on the grounds Wednesday morning were workers out on the playground area, Norman Public Schools assistant superintendent Roger Brown said shortly after he arrived at Kennedy around 3 p.m. Wednesday.

NPS employees were out Wednesday afternoon cleaning up the playground.

"From a school standpoint, we're going to comply with the police department and we're going to make sure we sanitize and clean in order to make sure the area is" ready for the students' return to school Monday, Brown said.

Brown also expressed his sympathy for the dead man's family.

"What a tragedy it is, it's just very sad for, obviously, this person's family," he said.

Julianna Parker 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com

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